As The Waves Break
by Nj Nets Fan
Summary: [COMPLETE!]How did two people who hated each other fall under the spell of love? Follow Lily Evans and James Potter through their last year at Hogwarts to see the story unfold
1. Default Chapter

11- year old James Potter stared at his reflection in the mirror. A short boy with jet black, untidy hair and a goofy grin stared back. James examined the bottom right side of his mouth where his last tooth had recently fallen out and he began to contemplate ridiculous stories to explain the absence of that tooth. Just as he wondered if anyone would believe that the gap was due to his heroic slaughtering of a dangerous Chinese Fireball, his mother's voice floated up the stairs.  
"James! We have to leave now if we're going to make it on time," she said. James took one last look in the mirror, winked at himself and headed downstairs.  
  
Lily Evans sat in the front of the car next to the man who was now her legal guardian. She was excited about starting at Hogwarts but she still couldn't stop a few stray tears from leaking from her eyes.  
"Thinking about your mum?" the man asked.  
No, thought Lily, I'm just crying for the bloody hell of it.  
"Yeah," she muttered instead as she wiped the wetness from her cheeks. She hated crying in front of him.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, tentatively.  
"No," she replied. All she wanted was for her mom to be alive again. Lily had never been mad at her dad for leaving them because she and her mom had been so happy by themselves. Then her mum met this loser and everything changed. Now that her mum was gone, Lily was glad she could get away and go to boarding school. They went along in silence for a while until he spoke again,  
"She would be proud of you, I know it," he said as they pulled into King Cross. Lily rolled her eyes.  
"Thanks for the hallmark sendoff, George." She picked up her trunk and wheeled it to the doors.  
"I'll uhh, see you next summer then," George said, dejectedly.  
"Whatever."  
  
James had left his parents at the doors to the station. They had given him direction of how to get onto Platform 9 ¾ but he was still rather skeptical. As he stood in front of the solid barrier between platforms 9 and 10 he felt a tap on his shoulder.  
"Mum, I'll be fine-"he said as he turned around. A deep blush crept into his cheeks as he realized that this was definitely not his mother. The girl who stood before him had gorgeous red hair and piercing green eyes. She giggled at his embarrassment.  
"Oh, sorry. I thought..." he trailed off.  
"No, it's not a problem. I was just wondering if you might be traveling to Hogwarts, too," she eyed his trunk and the barn owl sitting on top of it.  
"Yeah, I am," he replied.  
"Oh terrific. I don't know how to get onto Platform 9 ¾ and I really didn't want anyone to think I was crazy," she said as she sighed her relief.  
"Didn't your parents tell you how to get onto the platform?" he asked. Lily tried not to look upset.  
"My mum wasn't a witch. I must've got it from somewhere on my dad's side," she explained.  
"Wasn't a witch? What do you mean?"  
"She's dead. I live with my muggle step dad now," she said as nonchalantly as possible.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"  
"No, it's ok. So umm, how do we get onto the train?" she asked, changing the subject quickly.  
  
From their first encounter it seemed Lily Evans and James Potter would be great friends. But as the year went on they drifted to separate groups of friends and Lily began to see what an bottom James really was. A rivalry began to form between them and by the time the two were boarding the train for their 7th year they could hardly stand the sight of each other.  
  
"Over here!"  
"I'm open!"  
"You got me!!!" James Potter searched his friend's faces as they called out for the remembrall in his hand. James threw it to his best friend and grinned. Sirius Black grinned back as the boy between them ran back and forth in a feeble attempt to catch up. As Sirius threw the object to Remus Lupin, the "monkey" collapsed and the boys fell to the ground with laughter. Even little Peter Pettigrew let out a chuckle. Remus passed the remembrall back to James who began to play with it. He tossed it over his head and held his hand out behind his back to catch it. He turned when the ball didn't fall into his waiting hand.  
"Evans," he said as the redhead tossed the ball up and caught it. She set her steely; 'I'm-pissed-so-don't-mess-with-me' look on him.  
"Why do you find pleasure in torturing these poor kids? They aren't even your age!" she looked really mad.  
"You're right, I really shouldn't be so mean," he replied, putting on his best puppy dogface. She rolled her eyes and slouched her shoulders. He took the opportunity to get the remembrall back by pushing her to the ground. As he landed on top of her he used his hand to pin her arms down and forced the ball to roll away to where Sirius picked it up.  
"Get off me!" Lily fought back but his knees were on her chest. He smiled at her.  
"If you're not going to let me go, at least give back the remembrall," she tried.  
"Tell you what," he smirked. He didn't even have to finish his sentence before she rolled her eyes again.  
"Potter, I'm not going to go on a date with you. Don't you get the hint by now? I always say no," she threw him a disgusted look at him as she saw the pleasure he was getting from this.  
"You'll give in to the Potter charm one of these days," he said as he tussled his hair. She reached up and grabbed his arms to flip him over. She grinned at his shocked expression.  
"Not likely," she replied, stepping off him.  
James nodded at Sirius who reluctantly threw the boy his remembrall.  
"Nice talking to you boys," Lily said, walking away.  
Sirius walked to his friend to help him up. "You've got it bad, mate."

ok first chapter, hope you liked it...please reply!!!

Jes


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
James led his gang into their least favourite class- potions. It wasn't that the actual class was bad; James loved blowing stuff up in his cauldron. No, the real problem was their teacher. He was missing an arm, seven fingers and both his eyes had the clouded over look of a blind man and yet, he had ears like a fox. James had once called him and old coot from the very back of the classroom and this had resulted in James testing his Shrinking Solution in front of the whole class. The professor had refused to give him the antidote until the very end of the day so James had looked very foolish, especially as the incomplete solution had only shrunk his head. Despite the fact that they were sure he had lost his memory at some point, the professor would often go into long, elaborate tales about how he had lost this appendage or that body part in some awful war. He had once told them he had been Bertie Bott's best friend friend, when, in fact, he had only met him at a book signing once. He had missed a week of classes when his good friend died of a heart attack because he claimed he had been asked to write the eulogy (sp?).  
  
Now James took his usual seat at the back of the classroom. Sirius sat down next to him and Remus and Peter took their seats at the next table. Halfway through class when James and Sirius were supposed to be brewing a boil reduction potion, James noticed a certain redhead two seats in front of them. He nodded at Sirius, flicked his wand and a 'kick me' sign appeared on Lily's back. Lily, apparently oblivious, got up to get another ingredient. James followed. As he came level with Lily, he stuck his foot out to trip her but before he could, she spun around and whacked him hard on the nose. The whole room heard the crack as James's nose broke.  
  
"Damnit, Evans!" he cried from the floor where he was trying to stem the flow of blood.  
  
"Don't even try to mess with me, Potter," she sneered. Just then the professor came up behind Lily.  
  
"Oh my," he said as he saw1 James. "You know, something similar to this happened to me once during the Goblin Rebellion, the second one, in 1625." James rolled his eyes through the pain. There was no way Professor Grossfische was alive in 1625.  
  
"Sir," said James, "shouldn't you be punishing someone?" He shot a look at Lily who was pulling the sign off her back.  
  
"Oh, yes. You both will haven detention together. I will Owl you aout it leter but right now, Mr. Potter, you should be getting to the Hospital Wing," he turned back to his desk.  
  
James wasn't moving. "Both?!" he cried.  
  
"Together?!" Lily looked close to tears.  
  
Sirius stepped between the two and offered James his hand. "Let's just get you to the Hospital Wing, mate," he urged.  
  
"It's just my nose, I can-"  
  
"No, I'll help you. You must be in a lot of pain and you look a little confused, let's go."  
  
"Oh, right. I am kind of woozy," said James, catching on.  
  
As soon of James was outside the classroom, Sirius whacked him on the head.  
  
"Ouch! Talk about kicking a guy when he's down, jeeze," James muttered, still pinching his nose.  
  
"What were you thinking?" he put on his 'James voice', "both?! I mean c'mon, how happy are you to get this detention?" Sirius appeared to be rambling. James had learned to tune him and out and what to say in the gaps.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about; I'm furious," he replied.  
  
"But you may have a point," Sirius had just reached the point on the "conversation" where he began to see what James was doing, even if James didn't.  
  
"I always do," James said mechanically as they turned the corner to theHospital Wing.  
  
"Ok, here's what you. Go into the detention acting like you hate being in this detention but not so much that you hate being in it with _her. _But don't act too much like you do like being with her. But..." he continued with all the do's and don'ts James had heard a thousand time but never actually bothered to listen to.  
  
"Thanks, mate. I'll keep all that in mind." He patted Sirius on the back and headed in to see Nurse Cadman.

The next day James sat at the Gryffindor table eating breakfast when an owl dropped a piece of parchment on his bacon.  
  
Mr. Potter,  
  
Your detention will take place at 7.00 P.M. on Friday night. Please meet me outside the classroom.  
  
Have a nice day!  
  
Professor Grossfischcolor  
  
colorblue"Damnit," said James, throwing down the parchment.  
"What?" asked Sirius. James nodded at the note.  
  
"Detention at 7 on Friday!" he said.  
  
"That's the night of Remus's surprise party, he can't do that!" Sirius whispered back.  
  
"Well, I guess he can and he did. Now what are we gonna do about it?" he pulled his fingers through his hair in frustration.  
  
"Well, we'll just have to stall as long as possible. Professor Grossfisch never supervises his detentions. You'll just have to get out as soon as possible. Make sure to let Remus think that it's no big deal that it's that night, so he won't suspect anything. We can just make him think we forgot his birthday," Sirius said. James nodded.  
  
"What about Evans? I can't just leave her in detention, she'll squeal," he asked. Sirius shrugged.  
  
"So that her with you," he replied.  
  
"Yeah, that'll go well. 'Evans, we gotta skip detention for a party.' She's Head Girl, Sirius, she'll never do it," said James.  
  
"You never know. Moony's Head Boy and we all know he's no saint," Sirius had a point. "And if she does come, you'll probably get points for inviting her to a party," he added.  
  
"We'll see," James replied as they headed off to Transfiguration.  
  
The week went by in a blur of classes and assignments; All the Marauder's were looking forward to Friday. When James woke up on the day, he made sure to act just like it was any other day. They all tried to pretend they didn't notice the spring in Remus's step as he headed to the bathroom. Once he was safely out of earshot, James turned to the fifth boy in their room.  
  
"Jason, you know what to do?" he asked.  
  
"Sure do," he replied, giving the thumbs up.  
  
"Great."  
  
When Remus walked back in, he smiled and looked around.  
  
"Morning, James, Sirius, Peter, Jason," he said, nodding to each.  
  
"Yep," replied Peter as he made busy dumping books into his schoolbag.  
  
"Mornin'," added Sirius in a distracted tone as he searched for a pair of clean socks.  
  
Lupin's smile faded and James nodded at Jason when his back was turned. Jason went to cross yesterday off his calendar and pretended to look amazed at the birthday sticker on the 'Friday' box.  
  
"It is, isn't it? I had completely forgotten," he said in a bemused voice. He walked up to Remus and gave him a pat on the back.  
  
"Happy Birthday, mate" he said as he swung his bag over his shoulder and walked out.  
  
The other three took very obvious looks at their calendars, too.  
  
"Hey, Jason's right. Happy Birthday. I gotta find that History of Magic book, I'll see you at first," said Peter, quickly exiting the room before Remus could open his mouth.  
  
"I forgot, too. Well, Happy Birthday, then. You guys ready for breakfast?" added James. Remus sighed heavily.  
  
"Yeah," and they left for the Great Hall.  
  
The day passed with no major events. Remus received a check for 30 Galleons and a letter saying there was another present waiting for him at home.  
  
Classes went fine but Lupin was still feeling pretty down because they hadn't played the traditional birthday trick on him yet.  
  
Dinner rolled around and soon James was saying good-bye to the other three and heading down to the dungeons. Lily was sitting outside the classroom when he got there. She was writing something as he approached. He cleared his throat to announce his presence. Lily looked up. When she saw James she hurriedly stuffed away the book she had been scribbling in but she wasn't fast enough to keep James from reading the word 'Journal' on the front.  
  
"Potter," she snapped.  
  
"Evans," he replied, nodding politely. He wanted to be on good terms with her so he could get her to leave with him. They stared at each other silently until the professor arrived and let them in.  
  
"You see the potions on the table there? I want you to test them all on the three items next to them. Write down your observations and leave them on my desk. Clean up when you're done and lock the door," he instructed. "Good Luck."  
  
James surveyed what they had gotten done over their half an hour in the dungeons. Only two potions were done and they still had four to go.  
  
"This is taking too long," he sighed heavily. Sirius has said he could probably buy them 45 minutes- an hour at the most.  
  
"And what are you in a hurry to get to?" Lily asked as she dropped a bit of green liquid onto a piece of parchment and jotted down the results.  
  
"We have to get to Remus's surprise party," replied James.  
  
"_We_? "she looked up from her paper to throw him a confused look.  
  
"Well, I can't just leave you here," he said as nonchalantly as possible, checking his watch again. 7.42.  
  
"Maybe if you didn't some of the work we'd be out of here sooner," Lily offered.  
  
"Fine," he grabbed one of the potions and got to work.  
  
Much to James's displeasure, the time it took to finish was much shorter after Lily's advice. As soon as the last potion was tested, James grabbed the notes, dropped them on the professor's desk and hurried out of the classroom.  
  
He and Lily ran down hallways, up stairs and around corners. As they finally turned onto the hall that led to the Gryffindor common room, James heard Remus's voice.  
  
"Sirius, I really have to get into the common room. You've already delayed me enough with all the reviewing you made me do with you," he said in and exasperated tone.  
  
"Can you please just go over the charm once more?" pleaded Sirius. Remus sighed.  
  
"Fine. Just once more and then you'll let me in?" he replied.  
  
"Promise," said Sirius.  
  
James peeked around the corner to make sure Remus's back was turned before grabbing Lily's hand and pulling her to the other wall.  
  
"What-"James threw his hand over Lily's mouth. Sirius rolled his eyes as he saw the two scurrying behind Remus's turned back.  
  
"I know another entrance, let's go," said James. Lily didn't even bother to reply, she just followed him down the hall.

A minute later they arrived outside a blank portrait. James grabbed the side and pulled it open. He shoved Lily through and followed behind her. Inside was a sort of mini-chamber. A table sat next to the far wall and a blue orb floated above it. James tapped it with his wand and muttered something Lily couldn't hear. The orb turned red.  
  
"7th year Gryffindor boy's bedroom," James appeared to be instructing the orb, which floated to the top of the wall and attached itself. Then, very quickly, it spread down the wall like a weird goo. James stepped around the table and pulled Lily through the "door", which was now purple. The two appeared on the other side of the wall in the boy's room.  
  
Lily looked back at the wall, as if expecting the goo to still be there.  
  
"How did you know about that?" she asked.  
  
"We made it," James replied, offhandedly.  
  
"You made it?" Lily repeated.  
  
"Yup," he reached for the door handle and held it open for her.  
  
They were greeted by strange look from people in the common room. Peter raised his eyebrows as they made their way over to him.  
  
"Long story, don't ask," James said. It didn't help that Lily was still a bit flushed and out of breathe from running.  
  
Just then the portrait swung open.  
  
"Never ask me for any more help," Remus started as he and Sirius walked through the portrait hole, still in conversation.  
  
"SURPRISE!" interrupted the whole of Gryffindor.  
  
Remus looked up. A smile spread across his face as he saw the gifts and food. He punched Sirius in the arm.  
  
"I shoulda' known something was up when you asked for help with your schoolwork," he joked.  
  
James made his way over.  
  
"And you thought we forgot," he said.  
  
"You fooled me!" replied Remus.  
  
Sirius waved his wand and loud party music pumped through the whole tower. "Let the party begin!" he shouted.

ok there it is so please review and I'll try to get a new chapter up asap but you know how hectic school gets!! whoever had the idea of Saturday classes should be hunted down, lol.

ps. I sorta though remus was a bit gullible so sorry if to you, this chapter wasn't very beleievable.

Jes


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter 3

After about 9 O'clock the party began to take a turn towards couples only so James decided it was time to make his move. He tousled his hair, flattened his shirt and began to weave his way through the crowd of swaying students. Just as he reached Lily, so did Sirius. A very _drunk_ Sirius.

"Lily!" he exclaimed with a slight slur. He threw out his arms in apparent surprise that she was there. "Ahhh, Jame-hic-s! You wouldn't want to dance, would you?"

James shook his head and sighed to himself. "Sirius, how many firewhiskeys have you had?" he asked.

Sirius was quiet for a minute as he appeared to be deep in concentration counting on his fingers.

"One," he declared finally. James raised his eyebrows at him. Sirius giggled a little and leaned closer to James. "Plus five," he said in what he clearly thought was a whisper.

"Sirius-"

"No, I'm-hic-fine. I just- woaaaahh," he held his arms out to steady himself. Then his eyes drooped shut and his frame went limp. James caught him before he hit the floor.

"Ok, let's get you upstairs. Lily, I'll be-" he looked around. "Lily?" He spotted a head of red locks leave through the portrait hole. "LILY!" he called after her instinctively. The music was so loud that nobody even looked up when he shouted. He scanned the crowd and found Moony dancing with a 6th year he recognized. He dragged Sirius over and cut in.

"Moony, take him upstairs. I'll be back! Thanks!" he said quickly, dumping the unconscious Sirius into Remus's hands. Then he ran towards the portrait hole and sprinted down the hall.

Lily had her arms crossed over her chest as she made her way out of the castle. She passed couples giggling madly in the bushes and fought back tears. She broke out into a run and didn't stop until she was at the lake's edge. Then she dropped down, pulled her knees to her chest and let the salty crystals fall from her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

James was out of breath when he finally spotted Lily down by the lake. He took a second to slow down as he watched her. Her head was bent and her shoulders were rocking. James's heart fell when he realized she was crying. He cautiously began to make his way over to her. As he came up behind her, James could hear the sobs as tears splashed down onto her shirt.

"Lily?" he said quietly, trying not to startle her. She lifted her head to see who was addressing her and James saw her puffy, tear-stained face.

"God, please don't look at me," she said, turning quickly away from him. He paused and then tentatively sat down beside her on the bank of the lake.

"Lily," he repeated, very softly this time. Without thinking he reached his hand out and rested it on hers. She pulled away quickly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked doing her best not to look at him and still come off as unconcerned with his response. James didn't answer for a second.

"Why are you crying?" he asked instead. She muttered something he couldn't hear.

He moved closer to her. "What?" She shook her head in reply.

"Lily?" she winced at being addressed by her first name.

"Don't call me that, Potter," she snapped automatically as she rubbed tears from her cheeks. James took no notice of the sudden mood swing. "Why are you crying?" he repeated. She looked down. He tilted her chin back up. "Why-"

"I don't know," she replied, cutting him off. "Just everything." He let go of her chin and she looked away.

"Ok," he said. She looked at him questioningly.

"Ok? That's it? You're just going to drop it?" she sniffled.

"Yeah," he replied. Without warning she dropped her head onto his lap. He entwined his fingers with hers and this time she didn't pull away. James looked at the moon and sighed.

"I love you," he said. But she was already asleep.

The next morning James awoke and looked around. He and Lily had fallen asleep next to the lake. Her head was resting on his chest and their fingers were still laced together. He smiled. James wanted to stay like this forever but his watch told him it was almost seven and he knew the teachers would be up soon. He put his arms under Lily and lifted her easily. She made a noise but didn't wake up. He carried her back through the castle and used a shortcut to the girl's dormitory to omit the use of the stairs. He opened the 7th year girl's door as quietly as possible and ducked inside. The other three girls didn't wake up. James laid Lily down on her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. He watched her for a second before turning away. As he reached for the doorknob he heard a noise behind him.

"James…"Lily whispered. Then she rolled over and continued to sleep. James smiled and left to go to his own dormitory to take a shower and get ready for the questions that were sure to be asked.

James made his way back to his own dormitory with a spring in his step and a whistle on his lips. He hit a particularly high note as he reached for the doorknob. As his hand touched the metal he felt it turn without his will. The door swung open, someone grabbed him and pulled him inside.  
"Ahh, Remus. Sirius, Peter," he said, lightly, nodding to them. "So nice to see my best friends on this glorious morning," he said as he was pushed onto his bed. Remus looked at him oddly but James just flashed him a grin and began to whistle again. Peter through his hands over his ears, Sirius jammed a pillow over his head and Remus covered James's mouth with his hand. James attempted to continue his melody through the interruption but all that happened was Remus pulling away a saliva covered hand.  
"Yuck!" he exclaimed, wiping the spit on James's robes.  
"Oh, c'mon, it's just a little spit...anyway, how long you known me? We're practically brothers which means that my spit shouldn't freak you out that much." James said as he nonchalantly fell backward on the bed and sighed, grinning from ear to ear.  
"Yeah but God knows where your mouth was last night," retorted Remus.  
"Right, right. So how is the hangover coming on, Sirius old boy?" James asked cheerily as he turned to his other friend. Sirus didn't lift his head from under the pillow; he just stuck up his thumb and then groaned loudly.  
Peter finally spoke up. "So, what happened, you know...with…with Lily?" he tried to say suggestively but it came off more like a farm animal headed off to the slaughter house. James just laughed.  
"Seriously, did you two get together or what?" prodded Remus.  
Sirius deigned to lift his head up to say, "Yeah, did you finally attain the unattainable?" Then he winced and let his head fall back onto the bed.  
"How come no one gave him something for that hangover?" James asked, suddenly putting on his fake mothering voice.  
"Don't change the subject, James" Remus said.  
"You know what?" James replied. Everyone looked at him, waiting for what he was going to say. "I gotta take a shower. Breakfast in 20?" he said, smiling. They all groaned in unison as he left the room with his towel.  
As he opened the bathroom door James heard Sirius shout, "This is why I hate you sometimes!" James just chuckled and stepped into the shower stall.

15 minutes later, James walked back into the room to find the other boys sitting ready and waiting for him.  
"God, what took so long? Looks like Miss Evans rubbed off on you more than we thought," Sirius said.  
James ignored the comment. "I see someone gave you something for that awful headache of yours. You really should learn your limit, Sirius; you looked a right prat last night," he replied.  
"Shut up," said Sirius, punching James in the arm.

As they entered the Great Hall, James surveyed the room for Lily. Nowhere in sight.  
"Bad luck, mate. Maybe she's too afraid you'll crush her heart to come out of her room. Maybe you should ask one of her mates where she is," Sirius pointed to a group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws getting up and exiting the Hall together.  
"Don't be stupid," James replied. But before he knew it his legs were taking him over to the group of girls. He stopped in front of them. They stopped too and looked at him.  
"Good morning ladies," he said, giving them a wink. Two of the girls giggled madly.  
"Elizabeth," he said, looking at the girl in the center of group.  
"Hey James, what do you need?" she replied, obviously not fazed by his charm like the others. The two girls stopped giggling and instead began shooting daggers at Elizabeth with their eyes.  
"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," he flashed them another smile. "Anyway, I was wondering if you might tell me where Lily Evans is, seeing as she's is clearly not here," he asked as nonchalantly as possible.  
"She was complaining of a stomach ache when I saw her. I think she went back to sleep."  
"Terrific. Thank you very much, have a nice day Ladies," he threw them one last wink and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Ok now I feel really bad because this chapter has been finished for a while but I thought I already put it up. Then I tried to put it up and my computer was being a butt! Forigve me!

Coorection: OH My God! the site wouldn't let me upload for the longest time I am so sorry...there is a another chapter or two..whatever else I have I am adding right now...hope you haven't abondoned the fic!

Jes

p.s. just started a new fic which I am also putting up..if you have me on author alert you'll know but otherwise it's called 'The Sting of a Broken Man' its the H/D I've been rpmising forever! I'll put up a link when it up. also, if you read stuff from i just put up my first story there, called 'anonymous love' so you can check that out too!


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four…

The days and weeks began to pass in a blur and before he knew it, James had watched September blend into October. The days grew chillier and an excitement could be felt building in the bones of every student as Halloween approached. Through all this, though, Harry found himself bogged down with work given by his teaches as they all said, "You're in the seventh year now, it's time to be serious!". Most days James could be found hidden behind a stack of book in the library writing various essays for cranky teachers and studying for the fast-approaching mid term exams.

Sometimes James would pass Lily in the hall while they both ran from classroom to classroom, making the mad dash to beat the bell. He would smile and sometimes she would return the gesture, a bit of pink resting in her cheeks as she took her seat two rows behind him. Without extra time to spend time with their friends it was all James and Lily could do to maintain this low-key hallway relationship.

The school got a surprise when Dumbledore's voice floated through the school the morning of Halloween and announced that there would be no lessons that day and he was inviting the students to relax and have fun. There would be an opportunity from 3-5 that afternoon to help decorate the hall for the annual dance that evening if you so wished. Boys and girls all over the school were running around hooting and hollering while other, more careful students, ran to their teacher's living spaces to double check that they had heard correctly. The news came as James was putting on his left sock and he let it drop to the floor as he jumped up and down in the air. None of the boys could believe it. Dumbledore had only become Headmaster in their 5th year and an unannounced holiday could not be remembered ever having happened in the history of Hogwarts. Even the teachers smiled as they stood back to let piggy-back riders through the halls, whooping as they went.

The boys made their way down to the Great Hall to find it packed with students all talking excitedly to one another about how crazy this was and what they were going to do with the whole day off.

Sirius plopped down next to James at the Gryffindor table and sighed.

"God, that Dumbledore is a saint. I really need this break from all that studying I've been doing," he said as he passed the orange juice pitcher to Remus who snorted loudly.

"What studying?" James laughed as he buttered his toast. Sirius hit him in the arm. James looked up from his plate to try and spot if Lily was there. He couldn't find her though so he just went back to his bacon.

"Hey guys, I gotta bring these books back to the library so I'll be back in a few minutes," James said a few hours later. He hoisted himself off the floor from where they had been playing exploding snap and rummaged through his bag for two books.

"Yeah, get those out of my sight. I don't want to see any books today because it's a-" Sirius paused dramatically, "HOLIDAY!" He finished noisily.

James chuckled. "Ok, whatever you say, mate."

A few minutes later as James was signing his book back in, he noticed a mop of fire red hair sitting at one of the tables in the back. 

"Thanks Ms. Mattoon," he said to the lady behind the desk. Then he turned and made his way over to Lily's table. As he came up behind her, he stuck his hands over her eyes. She twisted her head up and around but it was no use.  
"Who is it?" she asked in slightly mad tone. James laughed quietly.  
"Why such hard studying on this holiday, Ms. Evans?" he asked, releasing his grip on her. She turned to look at him.

"If I don't take this extra time to study now, I'll never get this all done," she answered, turning back to her parchment. James surveyed the table. It was littered with crumpled bits of parchment, quills and a massive piled of books.

He took the seat beside Lily. She sighed in obvious frustration.

"How long have you been working, Lily?" he asked her. She passed a hand through her hair and added a sentence to her paper before answering. 

"Four, maybe five hours. I'm not even close to finishing though," she said distractedly as she searched for a book. She spotted it sitting next to James hand and went to pick it up but he got there first.

"Come on, give me that!" she begged. He held it out of her distance.

"You can't keep working like this, I won't let you," he answered.

"Fine, if you won't give me that book I'll just work on my Advanced Arithmancy homework. As she moved her hand to pick up a folder, James's fingers closed around hers. He shook his head.

"You are going to have some fun. C'mon Lily, we have the dance tonight and teachers weren't allowed to assign homework due tomorrow so there is no way I'm letting you continue to work. That is, unless of course, all of this work is ," he lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "_late_." He fake gasped and threw a hand over his wide-open mouth. Lily scowled at him.

"Of course it's not late!" she hissed, looking at him as is he had just called her a dirty name.

"Well then, let's go!"

The next thing Lily knew, her bag was packed with all its' books and James was pulling her out of the library. He dropped her bag along the wall saying they would get it later. The day having been declared a holiday, students with permission to visit Hogsmead were allowed to visit the town is they wanted to. Lily had permission but had never gone because she had found the quieter common room a good place to catch up on work. However, James insisted that they go so she found herself donning her jacket and following him out of the main gates and into the village.

Before long Lily actually found herself laughing as she talked with James. She allowed her guard to come down and let herself have some fun. After a 2 hours, lots of sweet buying and a warm butterbeer later, they headed back towards the school.

"What's that?" Lily asked, pointing to a decrepit-looking building up on a hill set away from the rest of the quaint village. She could see some 4th year boys taunting each other to go nearer to the bolted doors. James's eyes darted around and he removed his fingers from her grasp.

"N-nothing. J-just an old haunted building," he tried to say nonchalantly. Lily could tell he wasn't telling her the whole truth but she could also tell that he didn't want to talk about it so she took his hand back in hers and smiled. "Ok."

James hurriedly changed the subject. "So, you wanna do the hall decorating with me? Sounds like fun," he asked.

Lily nodded her head as they stepped into the warm front hall. "Yeah, ok."

Lily and James entered the Great Hall together and walked to the tables with all the decorations. Lily smiled bright as she saw the lights and streamers they had to put up.  
"You look happy," James commented as they strung skeleton lights around the door frame. He looked down at her from the ladder he was on. Her grin faltered a little.  
"My mum used to love decorating the house for all the silly little holidays," she said as she handed him another set of lights. "I haven't done this in so long. Not since…well, you know," she smiled weakly and looked up at him. He looked into her eyes. They were swirling with so many emotions but he knew that somewhere in that deep pool of green was happiness.  
He climbed down the ladder to examine their work. Then he picked up her hand and simply said,  
"I know."

That night James met Lily in the common room for the dance. It was informal dress so he had changed out of his robes and into his regular clothes. Lily had decided to take a more festive route. She was wearing her usual white bellbottoms (that was their time, right?) but her shirt had pumpkins and spiders spread across the chest and sleeves. She wore a wreath of bats in her hair and black cat earrings glinted at her ears.  
She twirled for him and giggled. "You like?" she asked.  
"Very much so. Where do you find this stuff?" he asked, examining her outfit piece by piece.  
She shrugged. "I had a dress-up trunk when I was little so I looked through and found these." She held up a finger telling him to wait. Then she snapped her fingers and her earrings began to light up different colours. She laughed again. "I charmed them."  
"You always were good at that sort of thing. C'mon, let's go down," he said.

When they got to the hall they saw tables set up for anywhere from 2 to 10 people. They spotted Remus, Sirius and Peter and went to join them.   
"Lily, you look ravishing this evening," complimented Sirius as she sat down across from him at the circular table.  
She rolled her eyes. "Already been drinking this evening, Sirius?" she retorted.  
"Just a little," he replied, grinning. She couldn't help it; Lily let herself smile at him. She saw a small group of her friends walk in and she waved them over.  
Dinner began shortly and after the meal a small band trooped onto the stage that had been set up and the tables were moved to create a dance floor.  
Sirius asked one of Lily's friends, a girl with short blonde hair, to dance and they got up and walked onto the dance floor. Remus followed suit and James offered Lily his hand. The last girl sitting at the table didn't look too pleased to be left alone with Peter so she left to find herself a boy to dance with. Peter tried asking a few girls to dance but after being rejected and laughed at he decided to leave unnoticed.

After a lot of dancing James shouted to Lily that he wanted to sit down butas they were walking off the floor, the band struck a slow tune and Lily pulled her back.  
"Lily," he said, panting slightly.  
"I love slow songs," she whispered in his ear. He raised an eyebrow and followed her to an empty spot. She draped her arms around his neck, he put his around her back and they swayed.  
Soon their breathing mellowed and she rested her head on his shoulder. She even closed her eyes and swallowed his scent She didn't even noticed when the song ended and the band announced that this would their last song of the evening. Couples began to leave and soon the two were alone in the hall. Lily finally opened her eyes and looked around at the empty room.  
"James?" she said, lifting her head from his shoulder.  
"Mmnm," he replied.  
"We're the last ones here," she said.  
He kissed her on the neck and continued to hold her. He took a deep breath before replying.  
"I know."


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter 5

"Hey, you wanna take a walk?" James asked.  
"Yeah, I'd like that," replied Lily. They walked out of the Great Hall and through the main hall to the front gates. As they left the building a clock somewhere chimed 10 rings reminding them that they had to be back into the common room in half and hour.  
The two walked hand-in-hand towards the empty quidditch pitch. James led Lily into the stands and they sat together.  
"I love this place when it's empty," James admitted more to himself than anyone else.  
"But even more when it's full of screaming fans cheering you on in the stands, right?" Lily said, laughing. Whenever she had seen James play in a Quidditch match he was always full of excitement and his only goal seemed to be egging on the crowd.  
James smiled and shook his head. "The truth? No."  
Lily's forehead wrinkled. "No what?" she asked.  
"No I don't like the matches better. I come here a lot when I need to get away from my homework or the guys or, " he paused, "or girls."  
"Hey!" Lily retorted, knocking him lightly.  
"But I'm serious; this is my favorite place in the whole world. I mean, I can just come here and forget my problems and just relax. And if things are really bad, flying always makes me feel better." he continued.  
"That's because you're so good at it."  
James sighed. "You wanna know something?" She nodded her head. "When I was five, my dad gave me a broom for my birthday. It was nice but nothing really fancy. He told me he wanted me to learn Quidditch and I'd be the best flyer and the best player in the world. So I took lessons." He paused, then, "I was horrible." Lily cocked and eyebrow and threw him an unbelieving look.  
James came to his defense. "No it's true, I swear! I was absolute rubbish." He paused again. "But I loved it. I loved the feeling of the wind whipping across my cheeks, even when it stung them. I couldn't get enough of throwing the Quaffle and messing around with the Snitch. When I was on a broom, I was the happiest kid in the world. Slowly I got better. I still wasn't good by any means but I didn't suck as much as when I started." Lily giggled and James sighed a ragged sigh.  
He swallowed. "And then when I was 10, my dad died and all I could think about was how he wanted me to be the best. So I used all the money I had ever earned and bought a new top of the line broom and paid for extra lessons. I put everything I had into being the best Quidditch player the world would ever see. I wouldn't talk to anyone, I hardly ate or slept. Everyone thought I was moody, but the truth was, was ever time I was on a broom I thought about my Dad and how-" a stray tear leaked from James's eye; he didn't bother to wipe it away. "How I still wasn't good enough for him and all I wanted was to make him proud of me." He took a deep breath. "It's stupid, I know."  
Lily shook her head. "It's not stupid. I know what you mean."  
James forced a laugh. "Yeah. So then I got my letter and by that time all the practicing had paid off and I was really good. I couldn't believe when I made the team though; it was the best moment of my life because I felt like I finally did it. And I guess it just escalated from there. I never really thought I was being cocky or anything, I was just doing what made me happy."  
Lily smiled at him. "Yeah."  
"He'd be really proud of you, I know it," she added.  
James turned to her. His eyes were still glossy and the stain of tears had traced lines down his face. He smiled weakly at her. Then he closed his eyes and leaned towards Lily who found herself doing the same. She felt their lips meet and she leaned into him. Lily thought she could smell the salt from his cheeks as he kissed her again lightly.   
"Thanks," he murmured against her lips.  
"Anytime," she replied, grinning as she kissed him.

Soon it was time to get back up to the school so James and Lily walked back to the castle. They gave the password to get into Gryffindor Tower and James walked Lily to bottom of the stairs leading to the girl's dormitories.  
Lily fidgeted a little as she said, "Well, I guess this is good night?"  
James nodded. "Yeah, guess so. It was a good night."  
James moved closer to Lily. She quickly scanned the room to make sure there was no one watching before she moved closer to meet him in a kiss.   
"Oohhhh, Lily and James, oooh la la!" they heard from the top of the stairs. Lily looked up to see some of her friends taunting them from the first landing. James went slightly pink and Lily tried to discreetly shoo them away.  
Bridgette, a tall black girl and pink pajama's puckered her lips and made kissy noises at them. The rest of group dissolved in giggles.  
Lily sighed. "Oh well. I have to go beat them." She paused. "See you tomorrow?"  
He nodded. "Good-night, Lily"  
Lily watched him as he turned to ascend the boy's staircase. When he was out of earshot she whispered, "Good-night, James."  
Then she climbed the stairs towards her friends.  
Elizabeth grabbed Lily's hand dramatically. "Good-night, James!" she repeated breathlessly before fake fainting.  
"Shut-up you guys," Lily retorted as they filed into their room.  
"So.."   
"So what?" Lily asked as she made herself busy getting out her pajama's.  
"So how was your night like after the rest of us left? How was the infamous James Potter?" Liz asked, winking.  
Lily hesitated. "Well.." they waited anxiously. She bit her lip and grinned. "He's a really good kisser!"

Ok, that was kinda short but more will be up soon! Promise!

Jes


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter 6

November passed in a blur and before they knew it the students at Hogwarts were cramming in packing their trunk in between the real cramming for their mid year exams. Lily appeared to be taking it very hard. You could often find her hidden behind several enormous stacks of book in the back of the library where she scribbled away madly day and night and snapped ferociously at anyone who came near her or made the slightest noise.  
All of the stress was beginning to take a toll on her relationship with James. Every time he got a second to talk to her he was complaining about them not spending any time together anymore. Usually Lily would roll her eyes or glare at him while pointing out that they had exams in a week and she couldn't think about silly things like dates right now...this just made James even angrier.  
One day James wandered into the library with a bouquet of roses for Lily. He crept up behind her and kissed her on the cheek, slipping his hand over her eyes.  
"James, not now," she pushed his hand away and began to search for something on the table. He picked up one of her stray quills and handed to her. "Thanks," she mumbled before scrawling on a disheveled piece of parchment.  
"I brought you flowers," he said, holding them out to her in a sad attempt to get her attention. She took them and laid them on the other side of the table and continued to scribble.  
"Great..do you happen to have my transfiguration notes too? Because that would actually be _helpful_.." she replied scathingly.  
James made face.  
"Look, Lily. We need to talk. I cannot stand going out with you when you're like this crazy study freak all the time," he started but he could tell that she wasn't listening very hard as she flipped through her potions book looking for a chart. He grabbed the book from the table and threw it in the garbage can next to the desk. A few people looked up from their work.  
"James!" she screeched shooting him a death glare as she reached into the bin to get her book.  
"No, Lily," he said, putting himself in between Lily and the textbook. She continued to glare.  
"Lily, we all have exams coming up and we're all freaked out about them but that doesn't mean you can forget all your friends and seclude yourself in the back of the library and just shut yourself off from the real world! C'mon." His voice had raised a bit and everyone in the room was watching to see what Lily would say.  
She swallowed.  
"James, I really don't need this now," she replied. Then she added in an undertone, "not from _you."_  
James was taken aback. "Excuse me?" he asked raising his eyebrows at her.  
"Look James, just because you never study for anything and everything is just handed to you on a platter doesn't mean the rest of us don't have to work hard to get what we want." As soon as the words had left her mouth Lily knew they had been a mistake. James narrowed his yes at her and lowered his voice so that only Lily could hear what he said.  
"You know full well that everything is not handed to me on platter so think before you accuse me of things like that. and you know I work hard for what I want but I have priorities, Lily, and you are one of them."  
"Yeah you work hard for what you want, like quidditch. You work oh so hard, James. Anyway, you only work at things to please other people, even when they aren't around to see your "hard work" pay off," Lily spat back.  
"You really know how to make it hurt, don't you, Lily?" James replied.  
"Well if I cause you so much pain then maybe we shouldn't be together anymore," she replied without thinking.  
"Maybe we shouldn't," he replied harshly.  
"Fine!" she said, throwing the roses at him.  
"FINE!" he caught the roses and stormed out of the library. When he got to the first trash can, he threw them in.  
Back in the library Lily was fuming. Everyone watched as she grabbed her ink bottle and threw it on the floor. Then she broke down and laid her head on the desk to cry.

James's first exam was Transfiguration. He woke on the morning of December 12 and quickly closed his eyes again when he realized that 4 hours from then he would be sitting for one of the most important exams of his life. He needed terrific grades on all of his N.E.W.T.S. in order to land a spot at the ministry where he had wanted to work since the age of 5. He sighed and looked around. Sirius was still sleeping heavily and a note was taped to the door saying that Remus was in the library doing some last minute studying. The other boys' beds were still unmade so James assumed they were in the bathroom. He hoisted himself out of bed and walked across the room to his closet where he grabbed his bathrobe and headed out the door.  
In the bathroom James stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked very tired and there were dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep he'd gotten in the past 5 days. He let the air out of his lungs, walked over to a stall and opened the door.

When James was finished in the bathroom he walked back into the room. Peter was brushing his hair and Jason was pulling a green T-shirt over his head as James entered the room. He looked over Sirius's and saw that he was still asleep.  
"Think we should wake him?" Peter asked.  
"Yeah, I'll do it," James replied as he made his way to Sirius. James noticed a spot of drool that had appeared on the pillow next to Sirius's mouth as he tapped him.  
Nothing.  
James tapped him again but he still slept on. James rolled his eyes and smacked his friend on the shoulder. Sirius finally opened one eye and looked at James.  
"Go away...sleeping," he managed to get out before rolling over.  
James sighed. He had to go to his last resort. He walked to the window and pretended to stare at something very interesting.  
"Hmm..it seems as though some of the girls have finally cracked and are running around outside stripping off their clothes...interesting." Peter rushed to the window and James threw him a sad look.  
Sirius was suddenly up in bed. "I'm up, I'm up!" he said. Then his faced fell as he realized he had been tricked. "I hate you."  
"Ah, well I love you too, Sirius. Go have a shower; we're going to breakfast," James replied as he picked up a shirt off the floor and sniffed it before pulling it over his head.

James entered the Great Hall 3 hours later and looked around. The long tables had been replaced by dozens of single person desks. Each desk had a thick-looking packet and a quill on it. James sighed as he and the boys took seats in the same row and waited to begin the test.

"Woohoo! We're done!" Sirius jumped in the air as they reached the stair after their last exam. James laughed.  
"Vacation, here we come," he said.  
They walked up the stairs to their dorm room and grabbed their trunks. Peter was the only boy staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. James had invited him to stay at his house but he had opted for the quiet of the castle instead. Sirius would be going to the Potter house for the break. The four boys who were leaving grabbed their trunks and said good-bye to Peter, waving as they left. They walked the short distance to the train.  
As James was about to get onboard he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.  
"Hi , Lily," he said as he turned around.  
"Hi, James," she replied. He waited for her to say something.  
"I just wanted to say have a Happy break and I got you something before we, you know," she said. Lily rummaged in her trunk for a minute before pulling out a perfectly wrapped box.  
"Oh, thanks," James replied, taking the present. "I got you something too." He found a small wrapped box in his bag and handed it to her.  
She smiled. "Happy Christmas."  
"You too, and uhh, see you after the break," he replied.  
"Yeah, I'll..I'll see ya." Then she turned around and walked down the platform.

Hey guys, its so nice to be posting again, hope I haven't added too much and overwhelmed you! Haha

Seven will be up soon!

Jes

p.s. here is the link to that other story if you haven't found it

http: 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

James spent much of his break lounging around with Sirius and messing around with the gifts they had received. The box Lily had given to James had turned out to be a midnight black scarf and a matching pair of gloves. Lily had gotten them personalized with James' initials in a beautiful gold cursive font. James' mother had insisted that he write Lily a thank-you card but he hadn't heard back from her.  
In early January the weather turned unseasonably warm and the WWS (Wizard Weather Station) had predicted the temperatures to stay high until well after Hogwarts students would be returning to classes so James put the gifts aside with his clothes to pack for school.

On January 5th, James and Sirius caught the bus to the train station and made the walk through the wall onto platform 9 3/4 together. They walked down the train until they found an empty compartment to put their trunks in. As they stepped down from the train, they spotted Remus walking towards them through the thick crowd.  
"Hey, guys," he said as he reached them.  
"Hey, Remus, had a good break?" James replied as he helped his friend with his trunk.  
"Yeah, great, thanks."  
But James had spotted a mass of red locks dragging her trunk through the crowd.  
"I'll be right back…I'll uhh, meet you in the compartment," he said before walking over.  
"Hi, Lily," he said, his lips turning up at the edges.  
Lily lifted her head to see who was addressing her. There was a slight pink in her cheeks and she was breathing heavily.  
She dropped her trunk and it hit the floor with a loud bang.  
"Oh, hey James," she replied.  
"How was your break?" he asked.  
"Oh really good, thanks. And sorry I didn't reply to your card but I was traveling, visiting friends all break, you know, doing anything to get away from George. So I was really busy." Pause. "I really liked your gift though...it's beautiful." She held her hand up to show him the ring on her finger.  
"I'm glad you liked it," James replied. He glanced at her trunk. "Do you need some help with that?" he offered.  
"Oh, umm, yeah sure...if you don't mind. That would be great."  
"No problem...our compartment is just there," he pointed.  
"That'll be fine, thanks," she replied and followed behind James as he carried her luggage onto the train.

"Lily!" they heard a voice call behind her. The pistons hissed to announce that they were ready to leave. Lily turned.  
"Ben?" she asked as she saw a tall boy with wavy brown hair run towards her compartment.  
He reached where she was standing and stopped to catch his beathe. Steam billowed from the train.  
"What is it, Ben? Quickly, the train is leaving!" she urged.  
"You forgot something," her replied, pulling an envelope out of his pocket.  
"Oh..thanks-"  
"Lily, is this your..brother?" James asked, hesitating slightly.  
"Oh, sorry," the boy said, looking over at him. "I'm Ben, Lily's boyfriend."  
He held out his hand to shake James'. James just stared at him.  
"Right..Ben this is James, my uhh, friend. Look you really have to go now," she said hurriedly as the train began to roll forward.  
"Oh, yeah, right. Have a great term and I'll write you soon" he said.   
"Bye," Lily replied quickly.  
"Nice meeting you," he said to James. He kissed Lily lightly, "See ya, Lils."


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter 8

James stared at the wall for a minute without making a sound. He told himself that she should have known better and he couldn't blame Lily for finding someone else over the break. Even though he told himself those things, his anger mounted higher and higher.

"James..." Lily whispered as the compartment swayed and shook with the movement of the train.  
He shot a look at her. His mouth was drawn in a straight line and there were embarassed red patches on his cheeks.  
He turned and left the compartment. Hearing footsteps behind him, James sped up. He felt a hand on his shoulder.  
He turned. LIly was standing in front of him. He towered over her and noticed that her eyes were glossy with tears.  
"James.." she tried again.  
"Visitng friends? Or visiting your boyfriend?" he asked scathingly, his eyes boring into her. She looked away. "Were you even going to tell me, Lily?" He didn't wait for an answer before stalking off.  
A tear fell down Lily's pale cheek and she watched him walk away from her.  
"No.." she answered to the silence.

The first week back at school James did well at avoiding Lily in class and in the hallways. One Sunday he woke up early and walked to owlery to send a letter home. When he pushed open the door, he saw a slight figure standing in front of the rows of birds and tying a peice of parchment to one their legs.  
"Take this to Ben," she told the owl before letting it fly off out the window.  
James waited a second before entering the room. He walked over to the owls and looked for his own. He made a big show of avoiding Lily, who wasn't leaving even though she has sent her letter.  
He found his bird and began to attach his letter to it's leg.  
"James, please talk to me," he heard Lily say behind him.  
He walked to the window and let the owl fly away before turning to face her.  
"Who were you writing to?" he asked.  
She swallowed. "I was writing home," she answered.  
He looked her in the eye and shook his head.  
"Don't lie to me, Lily." He replied angrily.  
Then he brushed past her and opened the door.  
"Tell Ben I say 'Hi', next time," he added before shutting the door behind him.

James decided that he needed a plan. And it came to him: if Lily having a boyfriend made him feel like that, then maybe him having a girlfriend would work the same on her. And the best part of the whole plan was that his girlfriend would be a Hogwarts student, so he would be able to make her jealous all the time.

He planned it perfectly. Every Thursday at 10.30 Lily had a meeting with Professor McGonagal. She left the professor's office at 10.47, walked up the stairs reading her newest book and when she reached the top of the staircase, she turned left, left again and right to her dormitory. She would lazily give the password and enter without looking up. Then she would continue to her room, take exactly one and half minutes to grab her books and fix her hair and makeup and then walk back down to the common room and exit through the portait hole and walk to her next class.  
James knew all this. He wasn't a stalker, he was just...observant.

So when he saw Lily knock on the door to McGonagal's office the next Thursday, he looked around for an appropriate target. Spotting a auburn-haired 6th year he recognized exiting the Great Hall surrounded by a gaggle of tittering girls, James leaned casually against the wall and folded his arms. As the group grew closer, he called out to her.

"Tracey!" he flashed her a smile. She turned to look at him shyly.  
"Hi, James," she replied. Her girlfriends stopped a little ahead of her to watch the exchange.  
"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked her, grinning micheviously.  
The group of girls erupted in giggles and whispering. Tracey walked over to James. She looked behind her at her friends and waved them away. They didn't budge, their eyes transfized on her and James.  
"You wanted to talk?" she said nervously.  
"Yeah," he offered his hands out and added, "here let me take those books."  
She handed them over and he looked at the edge of a test paper poking out of her History of Magic textbook.  
"98, wow," he said, raising his eyebrows. She blushed slightly and let her gaze fall to her feet. "Hey, I like smart girls, especially when they're as pretty as you," he smiled and her blush deepened.   
"Thanks," she replied, not knowing what else to say.  
"Anyway, so I was wondering what you were doing this weekend?" he changed the subject. James knew that the best way to get a girl to say yes to a date was to compliment and then ask her out.  
"Nothing...really," she replied. Her eyes were wide and expectant.  
"So you might wanna go out with me? To Hogsmeade maybe?" he asked. He discreetly checked his watch. 10.46. Perfect.  
"Yeah, I'd like that," she replied cutely. He smiled as he saw the door behind her open and Lily walked out, her nose in a heavy green-bcked book.  
He waited for her to reach the bottom of the stairs before answering.  
"Great. Look, why don't you let me walk you back to the common room before your next class?"  
"Okay," she replied, and as they walked up the steps he took her hand in his for effect.

A few minutes later they planned to meet back in the common room with their new books. He was waiting for Tracey as she came down the stairs. He took her books and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he noticed a certain redhead appear behind Tracey. She giggled, causing Lily to look up from her book. She raised her eyebrows at the sight of James canoodling right there in the common room. Her cheeks paled and then flushed.  
He caught her eyes. "Hi, Lily!" he called to her, waving his hand in a friendly manner. "You know Tracey, right?"  
She paused before answering. "Uhh, yeah, we've met."  
"Great." He took a glance at his watch. "Look we gotta go; I'm walking Tracey to Herbology." He flashed a grin at her. "See you in Transfiguration?" he asked, putting his arm around Tracey's shoulder.  
"S-sure," Lily stammered. "See ya."


	9. Chapter Nine

chapter nine 

Lily was crying. She hadn't gone to class after her encounter with James and his new girlfriend; she had climbed back up the stairs, waiting until she was safely behind a locked door before falling onto her four-poster and letting the tears fall.  
Lilly's crying began to get more wild and her cheeks grew wetter. She sobbed into her pillow, asking herself what she had done to deserve this.  
Pretty soon Lily's sobs quieted and she found herself being pulled down into a fitful sleep.

"Lily?" the voice was calling from outside the door. It was one of her roomate, Elizabeth.  
She remained silent, staring up at the top of her bed. Silent tears had started to pour back down her cheeks.  
"Lils?" the voice came again. Lily didn't make a sound. She heard Liz sigh on the other side of the door. "I'm coming in." she announced. Lily blinked but did not look away from the ceiling.  
She heard a tiny click of the lock giving way and then a slight creak as her friend opened the door.  
Elizabeth walked in and shut the door behind her. Then she walked over to Lily's four-poster and sat down on the side of the bed.  
Without saying anything she began stroking Lily's hair; Lily continued to cry.  
She turned her head to look at Elizabeth.  
After minute, Lily finally spoke.  
"He has a new girlfriend," she stated, her monotonous tone ringing out through the almost empty room.  
"I know," Liz answered. She didn't elaborate.

They sat in silence for a long while more before either said anything.   
"Lily, I hate to say this, but he is allowed to move on," Liz said, cautiously. She paused. "I mean, you did." She added, a little quieter.  
Lily flipped onto her side so she was facing Elizabeth.  
"I know," she said, trying to smile. "It's just, I don't know. The way he was with her. It was like he was totally throwing it in my face. It just hurt. You know?"  
Liz nodded. "I know."  
Lily wiped the tears from under her eyes and sniffed a few times. Liz reached over to the side table and handed her a handful of tissues.  
"Thanks, Liza," Lily smiled, taking them. She blew her nose loudly.  
Liz giggled a little.  
"Shut up!" Lily yelled at her, grinning all the while.  
"No wonder you two broke up, God!" Elizabeth joked. Lily hit her.  
They grew silent again. Then Lily turned onto the other side and Liz lay down next to her. She put her arm around Lily's waist the way they had so many times before and rubbed her shoulder.

They lay on the bed like this for a while until Lily spoke again, right before they fell asleep.  
"I guess I just miss him..."

Lily awoke several hours later and rolled over to find the other side of the bed empty, save short note written on a small piece of parchment. She rubbed her eyes and picked up the note.

Lils,  
I woke up and saw you were still asleep so I decided to let you rest by yourself. We went to dinner at 5.30, if you wake up in time and want to come we'll be there for a while.  
Hope you feel better after your nap!

Love, Lizzy

Lily put down the note and looked out the window. The sky was dark and she could hear the faint sound of rain as it hammered against the thick stone walls. She pulled her jumper tighter around her body and looked at the clock.

_7.00; the girls must be finished with dinner by now_. She got up and changed out of her school clothes and into a pair of sweatpants.  
Feeling much more comfortable she applied a little under-eye cover-up to tone down the redness under her eyes.

Then she bravely descended the stairs to the common room where she had left her bookbag earlier that day. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard angry voices echoing up. The voices got louder as she moved further down the steps towards the common room. She stopped near the bottom of the stairs as she recognized the boy's voice as James'. She started to turn and go back up to her room but something made her pause and listen.

"Yeah well, I never even liked you! God, don't you know I'm still in love with Lily!" he screamed, his voice rising to Lily's ears and lodging in her brain.  
There was a long pause while Lily waited to hear Tracey's response to the last comment.  
A second later, Lily heard muffled sobs coming from the bottom of the stairs and James' voice soften as he spoke again.  
"C'mon, Trace. Don't cry," he was saying.  
"Don't touch me!" Lily heard Tracey cry out and their voices moved closer towards where she was now sitting on the stairs.  
"Trace, you know I didn't mean it." Lily's stomach dropped down to her knees when she heard this. _He's lying...oh God please tell me he's just saying that..please. _Lily prayed silently.  
"Get away from me James Potter!" Lily had no time to moved before she heard loud footsteps racing towards the bottom of the stairs and right towards her hiding place. Tracey stopped as she reached where Lily was now standing, her hand over her mouth.  
"Tracey!" James called after. "TRACEY! COME BAC-" he stopped midsentence as he saw Lily standing there awkwardly next to Tracey.   
Tracye looked back and forth between the two, who were staring at each other.  
Her gaze stopped on Lily. "You're awful!" she spat at Lily before continuing up the stairs to her bedroom.  
Lily sighed and slumped to the floor.  
"Oh, God," she sighed as James walked towards her. She looked at him sadly. "What have we done?"


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

James walked up the stairs and sat down next to Lily.  
"Do you think she'll be ok?" he asked, wringing his hands nervously.  
"I don't know. I mean, you guys didn't actually go out that long so you couldn't have been that attached," Lily replied.  
"I think Tracey would beg to differ," James almost chuckled. "She told me that she loved me, you know." He looked up at her.  
"After a week!" Lily couldn't believe that Tracey had actually felt that strongly about James so soon. Even she had waited a few weeks to decide that she loved him and even longer to tell him.  
James nodded his head. "Yup."  
"Well, what did you say back?" Lily was staring at him intently.  
He paused and ran his hand through his hair. "I-uh..." he licked his lips nervously. "I told her I liked her socks," he finished pathetically.  
Lily snorted accidentally. "I'm sorry, it's just...wow. That is the saddest thing I may have ever heard. "She grinned. "Were they even decorated?"  
"Yeah they had barn animals on them...like cows and pigs and stuff. And there were speech bubbles next to the animals with their noises.." Lily was trying her best not to laugh. James was a little too into Tracey's socks. He continued to explain. "So like, the cow said 'Moooo' and- what? Hey! You're laughing at me!" he smiled as he said it.  
"No no, I like it. So what noise did the cow make again?"  
James set himself up to show her. "Moo- wait. Uh uh, not falling for that!" he hit her playfully.  
"Hey!" she yelled, tickling him exactly where he was worst ticklish.  
"N-nooo..stop-s-top!" he wheezed, rolling back on the stair.  
Lily finally let up and pulled away. James lunged at her chin to get her back.  
"Ahh! James Potter!" Lily cried out. She tried her best to hit him while laughing furiously.

He stopped tickling but didn't let go of her face. His face softened as he watched her.  
"James what are you-" Lily's sentence was cut short when James kissed her. Lily jerked away and looked at him. Her eyes watched his forehead wrinkle.  
His hands were still clasped around her face.

Lily threw her lips on James' impulsively, pushing him back against the wall. She loved the feel of his lips against hers. She let his tongue maneuver it's way into her mouth. She deepened the kiss and felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach as his tongue moved around her mouth while his thumbs brushed against her cheek.

James finally broke the kiss, leaving the two panting on the stairs. Before she could react, James began kissing her neck, softly. She tilted her head back and bit her lip.

"James..." she breathed.  
"Mhhmmm?" he replied, his fingers fiddling with her top button.  
She pulled away and he looked.

"I can't. I'm sorry." Lily fought back tears as he watched her. She re-did her button

and frowned. "James, I love you, but I just can't."  
She stood up and flattened her shirt.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before running back up the stairs, leaving James dumbfounded on the step.

Over the next few days Lily tried her best to avoid James' eyes in the hallway and during classes but it turned out to be harder than she thought it would be. Whenever he caught her eye Lily would blush, smile and looked away quickly.

One day about a week after the kissing incident Lily was sitting in History of Magic and taking notes when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.  
She turned to see James sitting behind her, looking intently at the board, a smile playing at his lips while he scribbled some random notes on a piece of parchment. Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to the lesson. She continued writing her notes but she couldn't get James off her mind.

_The second Goblin Rebellion of 1734 was a turning point in the war between the Wizarding community and the Magical Creatures community. Magical beasts were…_

Tap, tap. Lily felt a finger on her shoulder again. This time she didn't turn around to look at James and instead dipped her quill into her ink bottle and scribbled a few words on her parchment. She sighed and tapped her fingers on the edge of her desk.  
Lily couldn't stop wondering if James was still looking at her. Finally, she stole a glance over her shoulder. James was indeed watching her. As she looked around, he caught her eyes with his and smiled. She smiled back.  
He raised his eyebrows at her and grinned deeper. Lily felt a familiar sweep of red creep into her cheeks as he pouted and then began making kissy faces at her. Lily giggled and opened her eyes wide at him to hint that he should settle down. He frowned and shook his head, feigning like she had upset him.  
"James, stop it!" she whispered to him, giggling again.

"Uhh, Miss Evans, Mr. Potter? Do we have a problem back there?" Lily turned back around to see the professor eyeing them intently. The whole class had turned around to look at them and see how they would reply. Lily heard James begin talking from behind her.  
"Well, actually yes we do, Professor," he started. Lily's eyes widened and she swiveled around to face him. The professor raised his eyebrows. "You see, sir, Lily and were-" Lily threw her hand over James' mouth as she saw where he was going.  
"Miss Evans?"  
Lily let go of James' mouth and turned back to face the teacher. "Everything is fine, sir," she said, smiling politely. "We apologize for the interruption."  
The professor sighed picked up his wand. "Very well.."

Lily threw James and exasperated look before turning back to her notes. Slowly the rest of the kids in the class also returned to their note-taking and the class continued as it had until the bell rang to signal the changing of classes.

As Lily left through the door she felt someone bump into her. She turned to see James smiling at her.  
"Oops…" he grinned as he headed towards the astronomy towers. Lily sighed and walked the other way back to Gryffindor Tower. When she walked into her room and threw her book bag onto her bed, she noticed something that hadn't been there before. Reaching into her bag Lily pulled out a singled long-stemmed red rose with a note attached to it. Lily unfolded the parchment.

_Lily,_

_Hoping I can help change you mind…_

_James xoxo_

Over the next week Lily continued to kind little treasures in her room and notes in her books from James. She didn't know how he did it without her catching him in the act but this only made her like them more.

As her relationship with James began to slowly get better and better again, she found herself the mockery of most underclassmen girls. Apparently word had spread pretty quickly that James had dumped Tracey so he could have Lily back and things had gone bad from there. Along with romantic noted from James, Lily began receiving anonymous hate notes about her intentions with the famous James Potter. However, with the help of her friends, who stuck by her side, she pushed all the hate away and continued on, holding her head up high as she passed groups of loathing girls in the halls.

One night Lily was up in her room doing homework with Liz and Carmen. She got up and said she had to go to the bathroom and left the room. After using the toilet Lily washed her hands at the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn't help but smile at how well things were going for her now and how fast things had turned around.

As Lily left the bathroom, she heard footsteps as someone descended the stairs. Looking around the corner she saw none and shrugged. Then she walked over to the door and went back into her room.

As she plopped back down on her bed and picked up her binder, she noticed her friends smiling at her.  
"What?" she asked, looking back and forth between them. Liz and Carmen looked at each other and giggled.  
"Prince Charming left you something while you were in the loo," Liz said, pointing at Lily's dresser. Lily look where she pointed and saw a gold box with an envelope attached to the top. She got up and walked across the room to pick it up and bring it back to her bed where her friends waited eagerly to see what James had gotten Lily.  
"Does he stalk me or something?" she joked as she removed the card from it's' envelope. Liz giggled again. Lily read the note, which was written in slanted red ink.

_My Dearest Flower _(Lily almost puked at how corny this all was)  
_Please meet me in the entrance hall tonight at 8.30. In the box is something I got you; I thought you could use it where we're going tonight._  
_Love,_  
_James_

Lily put the card down and lifted the top off of the gold box. She gasped at what she saw inside.

Folded neatly inside the box was a gorgeous black v-neck dress. Along the neckline were tiny little stitched Lilies. They were also sewn across the hemline which fell just below Lily's knees.

"Oh my..." Lily breathed as she lifted it out of the box. Liz was grinning enviously while Carmen clapped gleefully on the bed across from Lily.  
"Oh, it's so beautiful, Lily!" She cooed, coming over to examine the dress more closely. She picked up the note and grinned. "What shoes are you going to wear with it?"

Lily put down the dress and picked up her books. "I'm not going."  
"What do you mean you're not going!" Liz screamed, running over to join them. "You have to go!"  
"I do not. I have too much homework anyway," Lily replied, staring intently at the page in front of her.  
Carmen scoffed. "It's a Friday night, Lily. Live a little," she said, taking the book from Lily.  
"Oh yeah, it's Friday. Darn, now I have no excuse," she said under her breath.  
"Plus, you know you wanna!" Liz said, picking up the dress.  
Lily sighed. "Fine, I'll go," she said, giving in. The two girls next to her squealed with delight. "But you two better drop it now that I'm going."  
"We promise!" They cried in unison. Carmen and Liz jumped off the bed and grabbed Lily by the hands.  
"Okay, we have one hour. Let's get you gorgeous!"

Lily looked at herself in the mirror. Liz and Carmen had spent just over an hour frantically curling and tweezing and making-up her body and they were finally done. The black dress fell beautifully on Lily's gorgeous body. On her feet were her favorite black stiletto heels that accentuated her muscled legs. Carmen had curled her hair so that it hung in simple waves and Liz had perfected the look with just a touch of make-up that made her emerald eyes pop.

"Wooow," commented Liz, looking at their finished product.  
"You look beautiful, if I may say so myself," added Carmen, grinning broadly.  
Lily turned around to face her two friends. "Thanks so much for helping me guys. I know I can always count on you in times of dire need," she joked, hugging them both.

"Ohh, wait!" Carmen scampered across to the other side of her room and grabbed a box out of her drawer. Walking back she pulled out a emerald drop necklace which she fastened around Lily's slender neck.  
"My mum gave me this for Christmas but it totally clashes with everything I own...you should keep it, it looks great on you!" Carmen said, her eyes shining happily.  
"Thanks, Carm, I love it!" Lily hugged her friend again and looked at the clock on the wall. "8.45," she noted. "Right on time."

Liz picked up a bottle of perfume and pointed it upward. Lily stood across from her. Liz sprayed a squirt and Lily walked through, twirling in the mist. She checked her make-up, added a dab of the perfume to her wrists and neck and grabbed her purse.  
"Ok, let's go," she said, opening the door.  
Liz and Carmen followed her down the stairs. All the boys in the common room looked up as Lily entered. Most of them stared at her raptly as she walked by. She caught Sirius' eye as she neared the portrait hole and he winked at her before turning back to his game of Exploding Snap.

The girls soon reached the entrance hall where they saw James standing with his back facing them. He was dressed in a suit with shiny shoes and had somehow managed to tame some of his wild hair. He turned as he heard Lily's heels clicking on the hard floor.  
He glanced at his watch. "8.50, right on time," he said, smirking.  
"Hi, James," Lily replied, reaching him. He glanced at the girls behind Lily.  
"I see you come with and entourage," he joked, waving at them. "Liz, Carmen."  
"Hello James," replied Liz. "We're leaving her in your care now so you better treat her right."  
"And don't do anything I wouldn't do," Carmen added, winking slyly.  
"We'll try," James replied. He offered Lily his arm. "Miss Evans."  
Lily took it and waved goodbye to her friends as the couple exited into the starry night

"You wanna try something?"  
Lily looked up from her menu at James. "What kind of something?" she asked warily.  
"Well, I've always wanted to go on a date where we order our favorite dish for the other person. Do you want to?" he asked, looking quite excited at the prospects.  
"Sure, sounds like fun," Lily replied and began scanning the foods again. The prices were really high and she was a little worried about buying something too expensive.  
"James, this place is really nice. Are you sure it's ok?" she asked, looking over the lit candles at him.  
"Lily, please don't worry about it so much. I want this to be perfect for you."  
Lily blushed and smiled, glancing back at the menu.

A little while later the waiter came over to take their orders and get their menus from them.  
James looked up at Lily apprehensively.  
"James, do you want to order first?" she offered.  
"Sure." He looked at his menu and then the waiter. "I'll have the roast duck with the sauce and asparagus. Thank-you." He handed the waiter his menu and sat back looking very smug at ordering a fancy dish for Lily.  
"And for you, miss?"  
"Can I please have a toasted cheese sandwich and french fries, please," she smiled politely at the waiter who discreetly rolled his eyes ad jotted down the order. "Oh, and may we please have some ketchup with that?"  
"Certainly, miss; I'll see what I can do." The waiter turned and walked off towards the kitchens.

"Grilled cheese?" James exclaimed at Lily. She grinned and took a sip of her water.  
"Not what you were expecting?" she asked.  
"C'mon, that is not your favorite dish, Lils," he coaxed.  
"Your right, it's not." She grinned wider. "But you're the one who's going to have to eat it in front of all these fancy people!"  
"That's so mean," he sighed.

"I can't believe I am eating _this_ in a suit," James grumbled as he dipped his sandwich in the blob of ketchup on the side of his plate.  
Lily giggled and speared a piece of duck on her fork. "Mmmm," she exaggerated. "This duck is soooo good."  
James threw her a look from across the table and stuffed a few french fries in his mouth. He couldn't believe they had actually served them this meal.

As he finished the last bite of his cheese sandwich, James listened to the soft music playing around them.  
"You wanna dance?" he asked suddenly.  
Lily looked up at him. "Here? Now?"  
He smiled. "Yeah."  
Lily looked a little unsure for a second but then she set down her fork and knife. "Okay."  
The two stood and placed their napkins on the table. James took her right hand in his and placed his other around her waist. Lily put her free hand on his shoulder and they began to sway.  
They heard a few older couples make 'awww' noises around them and in a minute, two other young couples were dancing, too.  
"This is nice," Lily told him as she lay her head on his shoulder.  
He breathed in the scent of her perfume and smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

Ok, so I hope that was long enough! Lol

Sorry I haven't added in forvever but it wouldn't let me for a while so this superlong chapter is your reward for sticking with me!

More soon!

Jes

p.s. I've tried double spacing and adding spaces in between lines but it won't pick them up or let me change them so im sorry if it's hard to read!


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter 11

James walked Lily to the bottom of the stairs and stopped.  
"Maybe this is as far as I should go," he said, pouting slightly.  
"Yeah, maybe," Lily replied. She looked up at him. "Look, James, I had an amazing time tonight." She paused. "I forgot how sweet you are."  
He grinned slightly and then let his face relax. "But.."  
"Well, the thing is, I really want this to work again and I really like you, James." She stopped suddenly and looked down at her feet. When she looked up again she saw James' waiting face. She sighed. "I just want to take this slow...very slow."  
James' face relaxed and he smiled slightly. "Oh," he breathed. "I thought it was a lot worse than that. No, slow is good - great! Slow is perfect." He paused. "You're perfect."  
"James..."  
"No, you're amazing and I wouldn't do anything to hurt what we have, or we're trying to have again." He smiled. "Slowly, slowly trying to have again." He added.  
"Okay," Lily figeted with her purse.  
James waited and then asked, "Is it too fast for me to kiss you?"  
He waited anxiously while she thought it over and then she looked up into his eyes.  
"Yes."

The next morning Lily awoke in her bed and smiled. The night had been perfect. Lily was content with not kissing James good-night because she really did want to take things slowly.  
She stretched her arms up over her head and sighed. As she sat up, she saw the black dress hanging in her closet where she had hung it last night as she recalled every detail to the other girls. Liz and Carmen had told the other two all about it as soon as they came back to the room.  
Lily breathed in the light scent of flowers on her pillow and finally got herself out of bed and grabbed her robe. As Lily stepped under the running water in the shower, she smiled.  
Today was going to be a good day.

Lily hummed to herself quietly as she turned the water off and stepped out of the shower stall. She quickly dried her hair off and threw the towel into the dirty clothes bin and walked back towards her room. Her flip-flops squeaked as she crossed the hall and pushed open the door.  
"You have something on you bed," Jen told her as she walked in. She was sitting in front of her mirror and was using her wand to curl her hair into little ringlets.  
"Yeah, it's from _lover boy_," Carmen added, looking up from her magazine.

Lily crossed the room and picked up the note off her pillow. The extra weight was explained when she open it and saw that James had taped a pair of chocolate lips to the parchment. Lily removed it and placed it back on her pillow before reading the note itself.

_Lils,_  
_I have a surprise for you if you care to join me by the lake at 9 o'clock this morning._  
_Don't eat breakfast before you come; I've attached a little treat to hold you over until then. : )_

_Love,_  
_James xo_

Lily looked at the chocolate on her pillow and smiled; that was James, leaving her just one chocolate to make sure she was hungry when she met him.  
Lily went to look at her watch before realizing that she had taken it off for her shower.  
"It's 8.15," Liz offered as she buttoned her bell-bottoms.  
"Great," Lily smiled as she opened her wardrobe to decide what she would wear.

The event called for casual dress, especially considering all the dressing up Lily had done the night before. She eased into a pair of her flare jeans and pulled on a peasant top. Sliding a little lip gloss onto her lips, Lily brushed her now dry hair and checked the mirror.  
"What are you guys doing anyway?" Liz asked from across the room.  
Lily shrugged. "I dunno..Just hanging out I think...we might be getting breakfast too, he told me not to eat before I met him."  
"So you can't eat twice?" Carmen asked, taking another bite out of the twinkie in her right hand.  
Lily rolled her eyes. "Not all of us can eat 24 hours a day and stay bone thin like you, Carma," she replied as she grabbed her perfume and sprayed some onto her wrists.  
Carmen made a noise from across the room and went back to painting her toenails.

"Alright, I'm going," Lily announced as she slid her feet into the sandals lying next to her bed.  
"Why are you going now?" Jen asked, checking her watch. "You're gonna be on time!"  
"Shocking, I know," Lily joked as she headed out the door.

As Lily walked out of the main doors she paused to breathe in the spring air. The sun was shining down on her face; Lily loved the springtime. As she made her way down the grass, she saw James standing at the side of the lake. There was something at his feet but from so far away, Lily couldn't figure out what it might be.  
When he spotted her, James smiled and began walking towards her.   
"Morning," he said as they met a little distance from the lake.  
"Morning," Lily replied. She eyed the thing that James had brought. "What's that?" she nodded her head towards the lake.  
"That," James took her hand and led her down the small hill, "Is breakfast."  
"You made breakfast?"  
"Well, no." James confessed. "But I did go all the way to the kitchens and watched as the elves made it for us!"  
"Oh, what a gesture!" Lily joked. James smiled and picked up the picnic basket.  
"So, where do you want to eat it?" He asked.  
Lily thought for a second. Then she pointed to the quidditch pitch. "There."  
"I am so lucky," James commented as they towards the pitch.

"Yumm, this is so good!" Lily said as she took another bite of the sandwich in her hands. "I can't believe you had them make us cheese sandwiches!"  
James swallowed his bite and licked a bit of ketchup off of the side of his mouth. "Well, I'm a classy guy like that."  
Lily laughed and took a sip of her iced tea. "That you are." She dipped the last piece of her sandwich into a glob of ketchup and stuck it in her mouth.  
"What elshe do you haf in here? she asked without bothering to swallow. She peered into the basket.  
"How do you eat so much? You already ate both of your sandwiches and one of mine!" James looked perplexed at the amount of food Lily was able to put away.  
"Mmmm, strawberries!" Lily ignored James' comments and pulled the strawberries out of the basket. She took a bite and smiled.  
"Delicious!"  
James tried a strawberry and smiled at her. "Did you like it?"  
"Cheese sandwiches and strawberries? What more could a girl want?" she giggled and reached for another.

James and Lily walked hand-in-hand towards the town. James had announced that they were going shopping and just the sound of the word made Lily smile excitedly.  
"So, what store are we going to?" Lily asked as they strolled past a few stores devoted to parchment and other wizarding office supplies.  
James lowered his head to whisper in her ear. "You'll see," he said, softly.  
Lily could feel his breathe rush past her ear and closed her eyes for a second. She wished they didn't have to take it so slowly but quickly pushed the thought away.  
"Ok," she said, giving in to him as she let him steer her around a corner. Lily could see the store they were headed towards but couldn't quite make out what it had for sale until they came closer. On display in front of the shop were an array of accessories; belts, jewelry and purses all made out of beautiful materials. Mixed among these were a few odds and ends that didn't really seem to fit. The quirkiness made Lily smile. Lily bit her lip excitedly as she pointed to the door.   
"We're going in there?" she asked, smiling broadly.  
"Yes, we are," James replied as he opened the door for her.

"Oh my, James, all of this stuff is so great. I don't even know where to start!" Lily looked over at James.  
He looked back at her through a pair of ridiculous sunglasses. They were bright pink with wide rims and a flamingo on either side. Lily did her best not to burst out laughing at the sight.  
"You can have anything you want," James paused as he plopped a Robin Hood hat onto his head. "Baby," he added, raising his eyebrows at Lily.  
She giggled. "I'll remember that."

Almost two hours later, Lily and James left the store with several bags of purchased items. Lily was laughing so hard she had to hold onto James for support. He put his arm around her back to steady her as they turned the corner.  
"That was a blast. Do you know how long it's been since I've had that much fun?" she asked, taking a lick of the giant swirled lollipop with a picture of a cartoon mouse on the wrapper.  
James smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I'm glad."

"Hey look!" Lily said, pointing down the street to a store with pink flyers all over the windows. "It's that new store that just opened up last week. It's supposed to have tons of muggle stuff in it to keep wizards like that Arthur Weasley busy. Let's check it out!" she asked excitedly.  
James feigned a look at his watch. "I dunno, Lils..I mean I have a lot of work tonight-"  
"Shut up!" she exclaimed, hitting him lightly on the chest. He rubbed the spot in mock pain. "Let's go," she said as she dragged James over to the door and pushed it open.

"What's _that_?" James asked, wrinkling his nose at the thing on one of the tables.  
"That," Lily said matter-of-factly, "is a washer dryer."  
"Well, what's it do?" he asked inquisitively.  
"It washes dirty clothes and then dries them for you. They run off electricity, see?" Lily said pointing to the chord running out of the back of the big white machine.  
The two wizards also looking at the washer-dryer nodded excitedly.   
"See," one of them whispered to the other, "I told you they used eelecktricks." He grinned happily and Lily suppressed a large smile of her own.  
"So, muggles don't actually do their laundry themselves...these robots do it for them?" James asked, his brow still furrowed. The two wizards were leaning in their direction, the better to hear.  
"No, no. These aren't robots and, contrary to very popular belief, neither are _those_," Lily said as she pointed to a row of vacuum cleaners against the far wall. The taller wizard sighed heavily and reached into his pockets. He handed the other guy five galleons and glared at Lily. The smaller man looked very pleased with himself.  
"So, how do they work?"  
"Well, you put in your clothes and some detergent," she pointed out a self on the other side of the display where a wrinkly old witch with an owl on her shoulder poured a thick blue liquid back into the carton and beamed. Lily continued, "And then you set these dials to the right temperature and load size and then you pull this out and it rinses the clothes and spins them to get the extra water out. Then you move them into the dryer and it takes about an hour before the clothes are dry enough to wear."  
"Sounds like too much work for me," replied James. He turned and something caught his eye. "Hey, I've seen one of these before!" he exclaimed, walking across the room. "They're called...com-poot-ers.." he gazed at one of the screens longingly.  
Lily turned back to the two men. "Excuse me, I have to go deal with that one" she jabbed her thumb at James and headed off after him. He had found his way to the printers where a mob had gathered around one of the displays which was currently printing something out.  
"How do these work?" he asked. Everyone looked up at Lily. The old woman had ambled over and was staring intently at her.  
Lily took a breath. "Ok, well this is called a computer..."


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter 12

The next few weeks were heaven for Lily and James and they didn't even kiss again until the end of their third date. It was the weekend before Easter break was about to start so James wanted to go out and celebrate as a group date. James, Lily, Sirius, Carmen, Remus and Liz all met in the great hall at 8 on the Saturday night. Peter had been invited but had declined, muttering something about making up potions homework.  
James offered Lily his arm, which she took. "Shall we?" he asked.  
"We shall," Lily giggled. They were dressed fancy casual because they had decided to visit the bar and club in Hogsmeade. The girls had been a few times and had always had a great time. The fact that they never checked ID was also a quite appealing attribute.  
James and Lily walked through the front entrance, hand-in-hand.  
"Hey, Boris," Lily greeted the bouncer at the door as he let them through, and the group headed straight to the bar. Lily took a stool next to James. The bartender spotted her and walked over.  
"Hello, Lily. What can I get you all tonight?" he looked around at the group of grinning teenagers.  
"Hey, Jimmy. We'll all have our usual and these guys will have a two Firewhiskeys with a shot of lemon and a rum and coke," she said, pointing to the boys.  
Jimmy nodded and ran off to make their drinks.  
"You are amazing," James commented, kissing her neck.  
"Tell me something I don't know," she replied, smiling. "Let's go get a table."

"Ok, we got two firewhiskeys with lemon, a rum and coke, one tequila shooter," Carmen grinned mischievously, " a martini, dry with 2 olives and one pumpkin juice," Liz blushed and took her drink. "Anything else, girls?"  
"No thanks!" Lily replied, taking a sip of her martini.

Another round of drinks and a few slightly slurred conversations on some parts later, the group decided to do some dancing.  
"Let's show 'em how it's done, Lils!" James said, offering his hand. Lily took and followed him to the dance floor.

Later that night, Lily found herself stumbling back towards the school with James.  
"Wow, I really need to learn not to drink so much," she mumbled, grabbing onto him to steady herself. Not many people had seen Lily like this, mostly just her friends. To everyone else she was the sensible, hard-working head girl that never did anything wrong. The truth was, even Lily liked to have a little fun every once in a while.  
Thankfully, James had managed to stay reasonably sober and could help direct her as the castle loomed closer and closer.  
"Now, here's the Lily Evans I love: Party Girl Extraordinaire!" James joked.  
"Haha, very funny...w-woah!" Lily had lost her balance and was rapidly tumbling towards the earth; but she refused to go alone. As she fell, she grabbed James' shirt and pulled him down with her.  
Lily landed on her back with James on top of her; she still had a handful of his shirt clutched in her fist. His hands were on her waist.  
"James?" she asked.  
"What?" he replied. She watched him for a minute and then kissed him. Without hesitating, he kissed her back. She could smell the heavy scent of alcohol swirling around and between them. Lily felt him trying to pry her mouth open when she suddenly jerked away.  
"What's wrong, Lily?" James asked.  
She pushed James off of her and ran towards the woods, veering wilding off course every few steps.  
"Lily!" he chased after her towards the edge of the forest. When he finally caught her she was bent over a tree, clutching her stomach.  
"Lily?" he moved a little closer and she didn't move or look at him. Suddenly, Lily grabbed her hair back, aimed her head for the ground and vomited.  
"Ohhh," James uttered, half sighing in relief that it wasn't him that had made her run and half in disgust at his dates upchuck reflex.  
He walked over to where Lily was now sitting on the ground and leaned down.  
"I'm sorry," she managed to utter, not looking up at him.  
"It's ok. Now let's get you up to your room before any teachers find out what you've been up to," James said. He slid one arm under her knees and the other around her back. Lily draped her arms around his neck and James lifted her up. "There you go," he cooed as she rested her head on his shoulder and began to carry her back towards the castle.

By the time James had carried Lily back to Gryffindor common room, she was fast asleep in his arms and snoring up a storm. He climbed the girl's staircase and knocked on the top door.  
"Just a minute!" he heard Liz yell from inside the room. There was a rustling and then the door opened. Liz saw James standing there holding a sleeping Lily and stood back to let him in.  
"Thanks for bringing her back, that one's her bed," Liz said, pointing to the third one over as the door shut behind them.  
"Well, she was pretty smashed, I figured it was the decent thing to do," he grinned as he Lily down on top of her sheets and pulled a blanket over her.  
"Yeah well, Carmen's just as bad," Liz said, pointing to the next bed over. Carmen was lying with her face in her pillow but James could see that she had lost her jacket and out of the two feet poking from beneath the covers, only one had a shoe on. She also seemed to have decorated most of her body in some sort of pen. James chuckled.  
"They'll be better once they've slept it off and had a few pills for the headaches," Liz commented.  
"Yeah." James looked at Lily again. "Ok, well, I better let you get some sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Night," Liz said as she climbed into her own four-poster. James waved and backed out the door, shutting it behind him.

Ok, sorry for those of you who think that Lily is OOC in this but I really wanted some more fun (especially teenage fun, because that what they are!) before I have to start thinking about winding down the fic (don't worry, still a few chapters left!)

Love it when you comment, more soon!

Jes

ps. sorry if is hard to read, but this stupid quickedit refuses to acknowledge any of my spaces! ahhhh! love you for not rioting!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter 13**

Lily woke up to the sound to the sound of a scream. She tried to lift her head but it felt as heavy as a brick. Her head pounded and Lily groaned at how much noise Carmen was making in the next bed over. She threw her covers over her head in an effort to block out the sound.

"Carmen's up," Liz commented from a few feet over.

"What happened to me!" Carmen had taken the time away from her shrieking to ask.

"Maybe you should ask Sirius," Liz replied, falling back down onto her bed. "Apparently you two had quite the night," she added, grinning.

Lily managed to pry her head up off her pillow just long enough to catch a glimpse of Carmen. She was sitting straight up in her bed, her arms out in front of her as she stared, horrified at the black pen scribbles marking her gorgeous tanned skin.

"My head is killing meeee!" Carmen whined.

"There's some headache medicine on the dresser," Liz said in a muffled voice. She lifted her arm to point and then let it drop back down to her mattress. "There's one for you too, Lily."

"Mmmnnm?" Lily made a noise into her pillow. Finally, she hoisted herself off of her bed and put her feet on the floor. Her head began to spin as she stood and she took a minute to steady herself.

"Wooaahh," she held her arms out to find something to hold her still. She grabbed onto the night table.

When her head felt a little better, Lily shuffled across the room and stuck one of the pills into her mouth and drained the cup of water sitting on top of the dresser.

"Where are the others?" she asked, looking around the room and seeing two empty beds other than hers.

"They went to breakfast," Liz replied as she pulled on her robe.

"Already?" Lily asked.

"It's almost 11, Lily," Liz handed her a clock as she walked past Lily to get to her mirror.

Lily looked at the dials on the clock. The numbers swam a little and she put it back down on the table. "Oh."

"So, what happened last night?" Lily asked, plopping down onto her bed. She couldn't remember a thing.

"Well, Carmen showed up pretty late with one shoe and a bottle of some drink still clutched in her hands, raving loudly about what a great kisser Sirius is." Carmen scoffed from her bed. She had managed to take her pill as well by now and was resting her head on her pillow. "Then she zonked out half way through her story. Just fell asleep all of a sudden, mid-sentence." Liz grinned. "I guess we'll never know what happened. From the sound of it, he was just as drink as you were." Then she turned to Lily. "And then, about half an hour later, James showed up with you in his arms, fast asleep and snoring like crazy." Lily blushed but didn't try and pretend that it wasn't true.

"He carried me up?" she asked, smiling.

"Well, you were out. Said he thought it was the decent thing to do instead of leaving you somewhere on the grounds in the middle of the night."

Lily managed a small laugh and got up. "Well, I suppose we should get dressed and then get some brunch." She helped Carmen up and promised her they would get the pen off before leaving the room.

As Lily tied her own robe around her, she heard Liz say something across the room.  
Carmen was pulling her shirt off, revealing tons more writing. Lily wondered mentally if she wanted to know how it got there.

"Hey, Carmen, are those wedding vows on your back?" Liz asked.

"WHAT!" Carmen screamed, trying with great fervor to get a look at her back. She twirled around in a circle for a minute before tripping over her own two feet and falling with a crash.  
Liz broke out laughing. "I was just kidding!"

Carmen sighed heavily. "I hate you," she said as Liz helped her to her feet.

"It does say something about apples, though, whatever that means." Liz added. Carmen giggled and threw a hand over eyes.

"I'm never drinking again," she vowed.

"Liar!" Lily shot at her as she opened the door to take a shower.

Lily followed Carmen into the bathroom a few minutes later. They stepped into their usual stalls and Lily threw her robes over the door. She could hear the water on already in the next stall over and soon the sound of Carmen scrubbing furiously at her skin could be heard throughout the bathroom. Lily turned on the water and set the temperature as high as it would go. She sighed and leaned against the walls, eyes closed; the pounding in her head was far from gone.

"Lily!" she opened her eyes as Carmen's voice floated over into her stall.

"Yeah?" she called back.

"Do you have any of that scrubbing body wash? The one with the beads?" Carmen asked. Lily assumed that the cleansing process wasn't going as well as planned. She reached down and picked the body wash up from the corner of the stall.

"It's coming over!" she warned before chucking the orange bottle through the gap between the two stalls. A second later, Lily heard a thump quickly followed by a clatter as the plastic collided with the floor.

"Owwwww," Carmen groaned.

"Sorry!" Lily apologized as she squeezed out some shampoo.

Lily closed her eyes again as she washed her hair clean. This was going to be a long day.

30 minutes later, all three girls were descending the staircase. Carmen had failed in her effort to remove all of her markings but had definitely put in a valiant effort. She had missed a few spots she hadn't known about or had forgotten, and the rest was fairly faded but not gone. She wore a very sour expression all the way down into the Great Hall and refused to talk to anyone as she at her brunch.

Just as Lily was pouring herself a second glass of orange juice, the Marauders trooped in. James and Remus looked reasonably fine but Sirius looked almost as bad as Carmen. She brightened considerably when she saw the thick black lines drawn across his forehead. Peter brought up the rear; he looked overly twitchy today, his eyes darting this way and that.

James smiled and walked over to Lily.

"Good morning, how's the head?" he asked, kissing Lily on the cheek and then walking around the table to sit across from her.

She glared at him. "Fine." The pain was finally beginning to wane but Lily still felt like crap.

"Good." He placed some bacon on his plate and then some eggs. "Yumm," he commented, taking a bite.

"Thanks for bringing me back to the room last night," Lily said, taking a sip of Liz's coffee.

"Well, I try," he grinned.

Peter silently took the seat next to James. He poured himself of glass of juice and Lily could see his hand shaking as he held the pitcher. She had always felt sorry for him.

"Morning, Peter," she said, smiling as brightly as she could given her condition. He looked up suddenly and gave her a little nod. Then he pulled a book out of the brown bag he had brought with him and began reading, careful to keep the title hidden.

Lily shrugged and went back to eating her toast.

hey...so hope that was good and I'll be back asap but I do have exams coming up (curse you school, system!) so I'll be studying for those. I prolly won't add until the beginning of June...I finish my sit-down exams on the 1st but I have a paper due on the third and after that I'm free till' September so I'll have more time to write!

I keep trying to put little hints of Peter in just to make it seem a little more real, even though you all know what happens!

Jes


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter 14

"Hurry up! You're gonna miss the train!" Liz called as she leaned out the door of the Hogwarts Express.  
"We're coming!" Carmen cried as she and Lily dragged their luggage behind them; neither girl was too familiar with the concept of packing light and all of their stuff was slowing them way down. The train leaked steam into the air and the pistons hissed loudly.  
"How much stuff are you guys bringing with you? Here, give me that," Liz said as the two girls reached her compartment. Carmen handed Liz her duffel and began to heave her suitcase onto the train. Lily was about to lift up her bag when James came up behind her.  
"Here, I got it," he said, lifting it easily out of her hands and handing it up to Carmen, who had climbed into the compartment. Lily jumped slightly.  
"James! You know I hate it when you sneak up behind me like that!" Lily said.

"I know," he replied, giving her a quick peck on the lips as a very nice "I'm sorry."  
"After you," James said, holding out his hand for Lily to steady herself with as she stepped off of the platform and onto the train, which was just beginning to move.  
James handed the last few pieces of luggage to Sirius who had gotten onto the train ahead of them and then hoisted himself up into the compartment.

Lily concentrated hard as she carefully placed her card on top of the house that had been building. She let go and jerked her hand away quickly as the card burst into flames with a loud snap! and a cloud of smoke filled the room.  
"Noo!" Lily let out a frustrated scream. "Why does it always happen to me!"  
"Because you suck at this game," Carmen joked. "Don't worry, we still love you," she added as she began cleaning up the remaining cards off of the floor.  
Lily crossed her arms firmly across her chest and pouted. James sat down next to her.  
"Don't pout. It's a game of luck, you'll get it next time," he said. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Lily stuck her tongue out at him and uncrossed her arms.

"Trolley's here!" Sirius announced gleefully, jumping up from his seat in the compartment and sliding the door open. The rest of the group joined him except for Peter who had been sitting in a corner, reading a large green book for the whole ride.  
A few minutes later, the group returned to the compartment, their arms filled with candy and sweets and laughing loudly as the train carried them further and further south, back to the train station.  
Liz, Carmen and the other girls were all going to be spending the break at Carmen's house in London, Remus had managed to get Peter to agree to stay with him for the break and Sirius, Lily and James would be staying at James' house in Devon.  
"Who wants a chocolate frog!" Remus asked, dumping his pile onto one of the seats.  
"Me!" Lily called as she caught the shiny little package Remus threw to her.

Several hours later the train finally began to slow down as it reached the station, and there was a loud bustle as all the kids began to pull their bags and suitcases off the overhead racks. James handed the girls their things and waited for the train to stop before pushing open the door to the compartment.  
Everyone waited next to the train to say good-bye to Remus and Peter before they left down the platform to find Remus' parents. Then the rest of the group turned and got on line to go through the wall into King's Cross. A few minutes later James, Lily, Carmen and Sirius walked through together.  
Once on the other side, they began to say their good-byes. Liz began to tear up as she hugged Lily.  
"I'll miss you Lils," she managed, wiping her eyes.  
"I'll miss you, too, Liz. We'll call you soon and then we can all get together while James' parents are of town," Lily replied, smiling at Liz. "I promise," she added, rubbing her shoulder.  
"Ok, we'll see you then!" Sirius called as the two smaller groups split up and headed out of different exits. James and Lily held hands as they left through the glass doors. Lily looked back as the doors shut behind her and waved to her friends before they turned and began to look for a free cab outside of the station.

James and Lily held hands during the cab ride to James' house. Knowing the ride would be long, Sirius tried to rant on about the same topics ("isn't it so great that we're out for three weeks!" "I'm gonna sleep till noon tomorrow!") until he realized that not only were his friends bored, but so was he. At this point he pulled out his cassette player (1)and leaned against the window, eyes closed.

"Thank-you," James said again to the cab driver as he leaned back in through the window and handed him a few folded bills. The driver nodded and then pulled away from the curb. Lily lifted her bag and looked up the house in front of her.  
"Very nice, boyfriend," she smiled approvingly. The house was quite large, and she figured there would definitely be enough room for everyone here. Lily followed the boys as they made their way through the front gate and down the gravel path to the front door.  
James pulled out his wand and tapped the doorknob. He had once mentioned that he lived in an all-wizard community so he had no need to hide anything. Being so free in "the real world" was foreign to Lily, but she definitely liked it. James took her case from her and held the door open as she walked through.  
"Well, this is it," James said as he carried their luggage to the stairs. He sighed, "home sweet home."  
"Sweet is right, my man," Sirius said as he walked to the stairs in front of the other two. He appeared to have regained his energy as soon as the cab had pulled into the neighborhood. He clapped James on the shoulder and then said something about "going to my room...leave you two lovebirds alone."  
James smirked and turned to Lily. "My room's at the end of the hallway, and you'll be sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms, uhh, this one," he ducked his head into the room next to his and then opened the door all the way. "Just checking the bed was made." He hauled Lily's bags in and left them next to the King-sized bed before turning back to her.  
"This place is no nice, James. I never would have imagined you," she paused. "I mean, I didn't, you know.."  
"I know," James replied as he walked back out to the hall after her. "It's fine. The Ministry pays my folks pretty well but they're away a lot so they like to make sure I'm taken care of here, especially when I'm home by myself on breaks, or with Sirius."  
He shut the door and turned the knob to his. "So, you wanna see my room?"  
"Do I," Lily joked, following him through the door, which he closed behind her.

James' room looked pretty much as Lily had imagined it, only bigger. He had Quidditch posters taped to the walls, most of which had players zooming in and out of the picture on brooms.  
His bedspread was simple: Light blue sheets with a darker blue comforter to match. The bed was made and by the look of the room, it appeared that the Potters had a maid of some sort.  
"So, are you parents due home anytime soon?" Lily asked, a little suggestively, plopping down on the end of the bed.  
James walked over and stood in front of her. "No. Why, what did you have in mind?"  
To answer his question, Lily reached up and grabbed him by the tie (they were still in school dress, minus the robes) and pulled him to her for kiss.  
When they broke apart James smiled. "No, my parents won't be home for quite a while." Lily grinned and kissed him again, running her hands through his hair while his rested on her hips. Lily almost fell into a stupor as she felt his lips against hers, his tongue massaging hers gently, his fingers pinching her skin playfully. Lily moved her hands to his back and urged him down towards the bed. She broke the kiss briefly as she scooted back on the bed and he jumped onto it next to her. He put his hand on the side of her face and kissed her, his other hand reaching up her shirt.  
Soon Lily was flat on her back on the bed, James on top of her and giggling as he kissed her navel. Lily loved the weight of him on top of her; she could feel his stomach contracting and then expanding into hers as he caught his breath, he heat of his body against hers. She held her hands up over her head and he grinned as he pulled her shirt off and kissed the freckles on her skin. Neither of them heard Sirius' door close as Lily pulled off James' belt and dropped it on the floor or his footsteps coming down the hall as she also removed his shirt.  
Just before Sirius reached the door, James broke away from Lily.  
"What?" she asked, her eyes searching his for the problem.  
"Nothing," he breathed heavily. He smiled as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Lily," he said, "I think I love you."

"Hey, you guys wanna order out for some grub? I was thinking- woah there!" Sirius, whipped around back towards the door as both Lily and James, still half-naked, turned and looked at him, shocked expressions coating their features.  
"I-I'll just come..back," Sirius walked jerkily back through the door. Lily could see his face had flushed considerably as he pulled the door shut behind him.  
She turned back to look at James. After a second, he burst out laughing.  
"I should have known to lock the door," he grinned but stopped as he noticed that Lily wasn't reciprocating his feelings. "What?"  
"Maybe we should just get dressed and go downstairs," she said, pushing James off of her and standing up quickly.  
"Lils?" James sat up on the edge of bed. Lily picked up her shirt and hurried to the door. "Lily! Come on!"  
But it was no use; Lily was already at the door and yanking it open. James sighed heavily as Lily left the room and he resigned to falling back onto the bed as he turned and watched the door, which Lily had left partly open in her escape. He heard her door open and shut and closed his eyes.  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he sighed. Then he pulled himself off the bed and put his belt and shirt back on before heading down the stairs to the kitchen.

(1)were these around then? I know they def. did not have CD's but they prolly had cassette players by then..right?

Hey,

So I've only been to King's Cross once and it was a while ago so I sorta made up the doors and such because I can't remember. Anyway, I'll put up a new chapter asap but I have work and stuff so maybe a few days.

Thanks for reading!

Jes xo


	15. Chapter Fifteen

What do you know? Another chapter a day after the last one! That may be a first for me. :) Anyway, hope you like it and remember, please review!

Chapter 15

Lily shut the door behind her and dropped down onto her bed. She lay, splayed across the flowered comforter and sighed; the tears were already beginning to collect in her eyes. She sniffled as the first tear dropped over the edge and cascaded down her cheek. She replayed the scene in her head: her and James on the bed, kissing gleefully, and then he said that he loved her and everything had changed. Even if Sirius hadn't walked in on them, Lily thought that she probably would have left anyway.

Lily stared at the white ceiling and wondered how he could have done this to her. She had told them at the start that she wanted to take it slow, very slow, this time around and now, just over two months later, he was dropping the biggest bomb she could imagine on her.

_Lily, I think I love you…_The words tumbled around in her head, and she could hear James' voice coming from downstairs. He was talking with Sirius, probably telling him what had happened. Lily tried everything to get her mind off of what she was thinking, but it was no use; finally, she picked up the pink phone on the nightstand and pulled it over to where was sitting on the bed. Without thinking, she dialed the number and pulled the phone up her ear. The phone rang three times before,

"HELLO! Ahh, stop it guys," there was a crunching sound on the other line and several high pitched screams along with some laughter. "Sorry, hello?" the person was back.

"Carmen?" Lily whispered into the phone. Her lip trembled and she sniffed loudly as she wiped a fresh batch of tears away from her eyes.

"Lily? Lils, I that you? Sorry, I can't hear," Carmen pulled the phone away form her ear to yell at the other girls in the background. "Quiet guys, it's Lily!"

"Yeah, it's me." Sniff.

"Wait, Lily, are you ok?" Lily imagined Carmen was now making a motion with her hand to shush the girls. "Lily, what's wrong?" At this the room went quiet as everyone realized that Lily was probably crying on the other side of the phone.

"Tell her I say hi!" Lily could hear Liz say in a loud whisper. She now imagined all four girls huddled around Carmen, who was still holding the phone to her ear, and making shushing noises at each other, even though no one was talking.

"Lily, are you still there?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah," Lily replied quickly and then added, "Yeah, I'm here."

"So, do you want to tell me what happened or do you just want to talk?" Carmen asked softly. Lily managed a small smile; she knew that Carmen would be the right person to call.

"I'm not sure yet," Lily replied, knowing that she really didn't want to tell her. Carmen seemed to know this, too.

"Ok. You wanna hear what we've been up to?" she asked in a voice that was just excited enough to get Lily interested in whatever Carmen was about to tell her, but not so excited as to make Lily feel bad for not being as happy. She reached down and pulled her stuffed dog out of her bag and cuddled him before answering.

"Yeah, I wanna hear the stupid things you guys have already thought of in the few hours you've been home," Lily said as she curled up and lay her head on her pillow and closed her eyes, half listening as Carmen talked.

"Well, first, we did the traditional prank calling. We called Jamie Finkle, you know that big beefy girl in the 4th year?" She paused, leaving Lily a space in which to grunt her understanding and the continued. "See, we looked her number up in the school directory and called it, except we think her dad answered so we had to change our plan of action. It was so funny though!" A few girls giggled in the background, remembering the conversation. "And then we called John Bird, and who else…hmmm. Oh yeah! I cannot believe I almost forgot…" and just like that, she was off on another story while Lily lay on her bed and finally began to relax and forget what she had been thinking about; she breathed in the scent of the room and the bed and listened to the lull of Carmen's voice in her ear and the random additions of the girls in the room.

"…and so, we finally get to the store, in our pajamas, at 4 in the afternoon, and Sam is there. Remember, I told you about Sam Johnson, the really hunky lacrosse player from my old school before I got into Hogwarts. So anyway, he was there and I accidentally bumped into him in the frozen foods section," Lily laughed, picturing how un-accidental the meeting must really have been, "and he was like, "hey," and I was like,-"

Carmen's thought was cut off by a soft knocking on the door of Lily's room. She opened her eyes and sat up straight on the bed, suddenly very tense. She had tuned out Carmen's voice now and was staring intently on the door across the room.

The knock came again and then, "Lily, are you in there?" Pause. "It's, well, it's me, James. Are you asleep?"

Lily kept completely silent, willing James to just turn and leave. She heard him sigh out in the hallway and then he finally said, "Well, there's dinner downstairs if you want it," and walked away.

"Sorry, Carmen, but I gotta go," Lily whispered into the phone, even though James was probably at the stairs by now, and cutting Carmen off mid-sentence.

"Ok. Well, call me later if you want, we'll be here all night. Promise," she replied. She didn't argue.

"I will," Lily said and then added, "Thanks for talking to me Carma, it really helped. Tell everyone I love them. Bye"  
Carmen hardly had a chance to say good-bye when Lily hung up the phone and placed it back on the side table. Then she turned out the lamp and climbed into bed, and soon, she was fast asleep.

The next morning, Lily woke up to the sound of birds outside her now open window. She rubbed her eyes and took a look at the clock next to her bed: 6.13. She scanned the room, and jumped when she saw a figure sitting in the wicker chair in the corner. When she looked closer, she realized who it was.

James had his eyes closed, mouth slightly open, a heavy book lying in his lap. As Lily listened to him snoring loudly, she wondered if that had been what had woken her up. Being as quiet as possible, Lily pulled the hair elastic off of her wrist and pulled her messy hair back, and then slid noiselessly out from under her covers. She padded softly to the attached bathroom and washed her face with the water running as low as possible. Then she dried her face and went back into the bedroom. She checked to make sure James was still asleep before opening her bag and pulling out a pair of pajama bottoms and exchanging them for her school pants, which she had fallen asleep in the night before. As she moved around the room towards the door, she stubbed her toe against the bedpost and held back a scream of pain. She hopped around the room, holding her foot in her hand and making sure she didn't go near James in the chair.

Lily mouthed a swear and put her foot down gingerly; finding a spare piece of parchment and a quill that had been set on the night table, Lily scribbled a note. She left it on top of James' book and silently left the room, being carefully not to make and noise as she shut the door behind her.

She walked down the stairs and looked around until she found the kitchen. Looking in the fridge, Lily saw some bread and pulled a few pieces out. Not bothering to toast her breakfast, she slid aside a glass door that appeared to lead to the back porch and the yard.

Back up in the guest room, James cracked an eye open to make sure that Lily had left before opening his other and looking at the note she had left on his lap. He read it and sighed, waiting a few minutes before leaving the room and walking down to the kitchen to make a very strong pot of coffee.

_James,_

_I'm sorry about last night- I just didn't know what to say or… well, anyway, I'm outside when you wake up._

_Lily_

When James found Lily, she was sitting on the porch swing and looking out at the large yard. She looked up as he slid the door aside, and actually giggled a little she saw the white handkerchief he had extended and was waving around: a peace offering. A few seconds later, James himself appeared carrying two large mugs and smiling slightly. He walked over and bravely took the seat next to Lily on the swing. He handed her a mug, which she took gratefully and sipped. James put his coffee on the glass table next to them and used his foot to push off of the floor, so that the chair swung lightly underneath them.

After a few minutes Lily looked over at him. "I'm sorry," she said.

He took a sip of coffee before answering. "I know." Then he pushed against the floor and they became quiet again, swinging together on the porch. After a minute or two, Lily leaned her head on James' shoulder and closed her eyes, listening to the silence around them and feeling the soft swing of the chair as it carried her forward and back. James put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead, wordlessly assuring her that it was alright again.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter 16 (wooooaaahh, who woulda guessed!)

It surprised Lily how fast things went back to normal in the Potter's house. James had taken her fear to heart and was making sure that he didn't go too fast or press her for emotions she wasn't ready to share. Sirius seemed to have forgotten the whole "I walked in on my best friend and his girlfriend" incident and the three of them spent their days lounging around the house, swimming (the Potters had a very nice pool) and getting out into the towns around James' neighborhood.

Sometime in the second week of break, the phone rang.

"I got it!" Lily yelled. She had begun to settle in very nicely, and had been answering the phone whenever she felt like it for the last couple of days. She pushed James' arm off of her shoulder and bolted across the room from where they were playing 2 against 1 wizard's chess and lunged at the receiver.

"Hello, you have reached the Potter's house. This is Lily speaking, how may I help you?" she recited in her fake telephone voice.

The boys could hear a few screams come out of the phone from their post across the room.

"He's got you answering his phone now?" Carmen's voice said into Lily's ear. Then Carmen raised her voice and James heard her yell, "You're a pig, James Potter!" at him through the phone.

"So, Carmen what's the call for?" Lily asked, dropping her accent and sitting down on one of the stools in the kitchen.

"Well, guess where we are!" Carmen said.

"Hmmmm," Lily made a noise as though she was thinking very, very hard before saying, " I dunno. I give up; where are you?"

"Well, we're about – what would you say girls – a minute away from you," Carmen replied, giggling madly. Listening carefully, Lily heard the faint click of the front gates to James' neighborhood as they opened to let a car through.

She screamed loudly. "Ok, it's the big white one, it's like the 10th on the right or something…I'll be outside!" and she didn't wait for an answer before hanging up the phone. She turned excitedly towards the boys and grinned. "Let's go!" she said, bolting to the door without any explanation.

Lily stood at the end of the driveway, shivering slightly in her pajama pants and watched as the car pulled towards her. James and Sirius were standing behind Lily, also watching the car as it got closer and closer. As the driver, Lily couldn't tell who it was through the windshield, pulled up to the curb, Lily ran over. The window rolled down and Carmen poker her head out of the passenger's side, grinning madly; Lily could now see that Liz had been the driver.

"Where did you get the car?" Lily asked as Liz turned the key and the engine died away.

"We hijacked it from my mom. She's away for a convention thing for like, a week, so we thought we'd take a trip up and see you!" she giggled and Lily stood back for her to open the door.

"You," corrected Liz as she opened her door and got out, stretching her limbs. "You decided to hijack the car, you thought it'd be a good idea to drive 5 and half hours, you-"

"Oh shut up, Liz and give me a hug!" Lily said, running to the other side of the car where she grabbed Liz in a tight hug.

"Missed you Lily," Liz said, when they let go.

"I missed you guys, too. I'm so excited! Here, let me help you with that bag."

James and Sirius meandered over to help with the girls' stuff and the seven of them walked back to the house together.

"Ok, who wants some wine!" Lily asked, holding the open bottle of white out for them to see and looking around the table.

"Me!" came answer from everyone at the table, and Lily began to pour. Even Liz had decided to have a little celebratory drink for the occasion. The group had decided that instead of going out, they would cook a nice dinner and stay in. They were partway through their main course of spaghetti and meatballs (and exquisite meal for 7 seventeen-year-olds), when the doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" Lily wondered out loud.

James got up from the table and wiped his mouth on his napkin. "Lily, could you please set three more places while I get the door?" He didn't explain why, but Lily got up and began to fork spaghetti onto three more plates. People at the table moved around to make room for their mystery guests.

Just as Lily was placing down the plates heaped with pasta and filling the extra glasses with wine, James walked back into the room. Everyone exclaimed excitedly as they saw Remus, Peter and a tall young man with black hair and a thin stubble on his chin walk in behind James.

Sirius jumped up to greet them. "Remus! Peter!" he said, clapping each on the shoulder and beaming. Then he turned to the third guest. "And this wouldn't be Remus' infamous half brother, would it?" His eyes glinted evilly. Peter seemed to have perked up since they had last seen him; he was smiling coyly, but still not saying a word.

"Yes it is. Everyone, this is Romeo, aka Ray, my half brother, Ray, this is everyone, uhhh, Lily, Carmen, Liz, Sarah, Eve," Each of the girls smiled and gave a little wave, "and Sirius and James," the two boys each gave a little nod.

"Here, have a seat, guys," James said, motioning to the three new places Lily had laid on the table. They thanked him and took their seats; James passed the sauce and the cheese over.

"So, Ray, how come we've never heard of you before?" Carmen asked, flirtatiously. Sirius scowled, but she was still looking at Ray.

"Actually, we don't really-" Remus started to say before Ray interrupted him.

"No, it's fine, I don't mind." His voice was husky and much deeper than Remus'. He took a sip of his wine before continuing. "Actually, I just got back home from being away for a while. See, I went away to school as well, except I chose to attend Durmstrang Academy; I tried to get the little brother to go there, too, but he decided that Hogwarts was more his style," Ray nudged Remus with his shoulder and grinned, revealing straight, white teeth and making all of the girls droop. Sirius and James both moved so that they had their arms around Carmen and Lily, noticing the threat this new guy was posing. Ray continued, "So, I graduated from school and went home, and as it turns out, I'm oretty good at getting myself into trouble." He stopped to roll some spaghetti onto his fork and taking a bite, "Oh, this is very good, delicious. Who made this?" he asked, searching the table.

Lily blushed a little and James threw Remus a look as she said, "I did," in a very girly voice.

"I helped!" Liz added, making everyone look up in surprise. Ray nodded at her and took a sip of wine. "Well, thank-you both." He grinned and the other three girls began whispering together; Lily heard Carmen say, "See, I told you we should have helped with the cooking!" and then Sarah shushing her and turning back to Ray.

"So, what happened next?" she asked, intent on hearing the rest of Ray's life story.

He laughed and rubbed his chin. "You really wanna know?" he asked and they all nodded eagerly. Peter was also staring very intently at their storyteller, almost as though he was taking notes. "Ok, well, I managed to get myself into very deep trouble. A buddy and I got the very bad idea of knocking over the local apothecary – with a stolen car." He paused dramatically as the full effect of the retelling of his crime settled upon his audience.

"Then what?" Eve finally asked, her voice hardly above a whisper. Even the boys' interest had been piqued by now; Remus, however, did not look the least bit excited. He had finished his first glass of wine and was a fair way through his second, a sour expression on his face.

"Well, the cops got a call and met us before we could even step outside the store. They checked the car license plate and found it was stolen, got us for that. Plus, my friend, Frank, had some drugs on him, so that went against him, too. We ended up in a juvenile detention center for a while. I'm actually 19 but they let me stay instead of moving me to a low-security prison because I only had a few months left on my sentence when I had my birthday." He leaned back in his chair. "I just got out last week; Frank's still in because he got an extra six months for the drugs. I didn't have my wand on me at the time, because Frank's a muggle, but the Ministry got word of my arrest and were not very happy; suspended my magic license for a year after I got out, but it's a small price to pay for skipping jail or Azkaban." He drained his glass and threw them a cocky smile.

The table was silent as Ray finished his story. Remus was the first to speak.

"So, everyone finished with their dinner? Good, I'll clear. Ray, why don't you be a help and wash the dishes?" he began to lift up people's half empty plates from the table and carried them into the kitchen. Ray stood and turned to follow him.

"I'll help you wash!" Liz offered, standing as well.

Remus appeared back into the room for his second load, "Ray's quite capable of washing the dishes on his own, I think, thanks Liz." He headed back into the kitchen with more dishes.

Lily stood and took James' hand. She looked around the table. "Let's go elsewhere, shall we?" she raised her eyes and motioned up their stairs. Everyone stood and followed her up to their various bedrooms.

A few minutes later, Lily had changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth. She was about to climb into bed when she changed her mind and walked over to the door. Opening the door, she combed the corridor to see if anyone was around. Carmen had ended up in Sirirus' room, Remus had gone to bed early, as had Eve and Sarah, who were sharing the guest room. Liz and Peter were still downstairs, with Ray.

Finding the hallway deserted, Lily shut the door behind her and tip-toed across the carpet to James' door. Turning the knob, Lily opened the door and found James on his bed, reading. James looked up when he heard the door shut, and smiled when he saw Lily.

"Hey, crazy night, huh?" he said. He moved over to make a space for Lily to climb up on the bed next to him.

"Tell me about it. I guess Remus doesn't approve of his brother's antics too much," she paused for a second, propping herself up on her elbows and looking up at James. "Do you think they'll be ok?"

"Yeah, they'll be fine," James said easily. Then he placed the book on his side table and kissed Lily on the forehead. "Let's just go to sleep and try not to worry about it."

Lily nodded, and turned out the lamp next to her as they settled in for the night.

Heyyyy there. Back with a new chapter, hope to add one more at least before I leave on the 30th. Head's up: I'll be away for five weeks and the only back for 6 days before I'm away again for 2 weeks so don't expect anything for almost two months!

Sorry, but I hope you keep looking forward to stuff until then and after I get back!

Jes xo


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Le 17th Chapter

The next morning Lily woke up and lifted her head to see James still fast asleep next to her on the bed. She carefully lifted his arm and shimmied out from under the covers, set her feet on the carpet and crept silently from the room.  
Lily walked down the stairs towards the kitchen and shivered as she stepped onto the cold floor. She put the kettle, and then starting looking through the fridge for something to make for breakfast.

"Lilllly! Lemme have that shadow back!" Carmen called from Lily's bathroom. It was later that night and the group had decided to check out the club that had just opened in the next town over. The girls were flitting back and forth between Lily's room and their guest room, trying on shirts, throwing them off, contemplating new outfits and perfecting each others' makeup. Lily had been the first to settle on what to wear (a very tight, very short black skirt and a red, sparkly top with an artfully ripped hemline) and was now serving as ringleader to help the other girls finish getting ready.  
"C'MON GIRLS! WHAT IS TAKING YOU GUYS SO LONG!" they heard Sirius yell up the stairs at them. Lily poked her head out of the door and yelled back,  
"IN A MINUTE, BLACK!" and then promptly went back to fixing Sarah's mascara.

Finally, almost a half an hour later, all of the girls had settled on their clothes and put the finishing touches on their makeup. They walked down the stairs and met the boys, who all looked very impatient.  
"Finally," sighed Sirius, "you guys took long enough." But his un-satisfaction with the girls' sense of timing didn't seem to bother him enough to not put his arm around Carmen as they headed out the door.  
Half of the group squeezed into Ray's car and the other half followed in Carmen's mom's car, as they sped away out of the neighborhood gates.

By the time the group arrived at the club, it was already buzzing with music and people. Lily stepped out of Ray's car and waited for James to come around from the other side. He took her hand and they all moved towards the two large bouncers guarding the doors. Lily knew the best trick to getting into a club or bar when you were underage was the work the girl card, and she therefore made sure she was at the head of their group, along with Carmen.

James came up beside Lily and drew his arm around her waist, his hand resting on the top of her butt. One of the bouncers looked straight at Peter, who had been trying to stay out of sight behind Ray, and boomed at him, "I.D. Please," to which Peter squeaked and began fumbling with things in his pocket.

Peter finally managed to produce his fake license and handed it to the bouncer with trembling hands. The whole group watched as he examined the card, periodically looking back up at Peter, his face white as snow, and then back down. After over half a minute, the large man took one last look at Peter, and then let his eye rove over the rest of the group. His eyes paused momentarily on Lily and Carmen (and their chests) as well as Ray, before handed the I.D. back to Peter and nodded his head to let them in.

Lily grinned as they walked into the club and Carmen winked at the bouncer as she passed between the doors. Sirius saw this and draped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.  
"Nice job," he whispered in her ear, and then they began to look for a table.

Lily winced slightly as she bit into her second lemon of the night and sucked out the juice. Next to her, James and Sirius slammed down two shot glasses and followed suit with their lemon slices. Carmen hooted gleefully from the other side of the table and took a celebratory swig from her bottle of butterbeer. Lily shook her head, laughing and then turned to James, who was licking the leftover lemon taste from his lips.  
"Let's dance!" she screamed, jumping and pulling down her skirt. She held her hand out for James to take, which he did, and she pulled him onto the crowded dance floor. Nearby, Carmen and Sirius were attempting to dance, but somehow their lips had gotten in the way. Lily threw her hands up over her head and began moving her hips to the music while James swayed near her.

Two hours later, Lily and James stumbled out through the club doors and back towards the cars behind everyone else. Lily was giggling animatedly, while James did his best to keep her walking straight, which he did fairly well, considering he was also plastered. Suddenly Lily stopped short and flung herself onto him.  
James forgot about getting to the car and kissed Lily back, their tongues going crazy in each others' mouth. James grabbed Lily's butt and lifted her into the air; she kissed his neck and breathed her beer-breath as she panted above him. James grabbed her lips with his again and groaned into her mouth.  
"Oh, God. Look at them," Liz whispered from the car. "Someone go get them or we'll be here all night."  
"Hey, lovers!" Sirius slurred loudly from the other car. "Let's...go!"  
James managed to continue to hold Lily with one arm while he used to other to ask for another minute. He put his hand back and sucked deeply on Lily's lip.  
She broke away, her chest heaving. "We have to go, we have-" then she broke down giggling again.  
James grinned and kissed her quickly and carried her towards the second car. Ray held the door open for them and James slid Lily onto the seat and climbed in after her.  
"Thanks, Ray ole' buddy..." he grinned at Ray as he closed to door.  
"No problem," Ray replied and smiled as he walked around the car to the driver's seat. He had only had one beer to assure that he could drive them safely home; Liz was driving the other car.  
Lily could hear Carmen and Sarah singing loudly, and very badly, from the other car as they began to pull away.

When they got home, everyone stumbled through the front door and ran off to their respective rooms. Lily told Carmen that she and Sirius could sleep in her room for the night, while she spent the night in James' room.  
"Night!" she waved at Carmen before disappearing after James into his room.  
She shut the door behind her and jumped onto James' bed. She lay with her head on the pillow, eyes closed, mouth open for a minute until she felt James' weight appear on the mattress next to her.  
She opened her eyes and sat up. James was watching her, his eyes still a little glazed. Neither of them spoke before Lily moved across the bed to him and they began kssing again. This time, they started out slow; James broke the kiss and placed his lips on her shoulder, planting kisses down her collarbone and chest. She ran her hands through his hair and leaned her head back as the kisses tingled on her warm skin. She felt James slide his hand underneath her shirt and held back a gasp as her skin seemed to catch on fire at his touch. Lily pulled away and lifted her hands up over he head. James regarded them worriedly, but she smiled and kissed him lightly before lifting her arms again.  
James slid both his hands back up Lily's shirt and pulled it cleanly over her head, discarding it on the floor. He kissed her again, his hands clasped around her bare stomach, his tongue massaging hers gently. Lily fidgeted with his belt buckle for a second before unhooking it, and pulling it back through his pants loops. She unbuttoned his pants and pulled down the zipper, giving James a second to pull down his pants and peel off his shirt, leaving him in just his boxers. Lily slid out of her skirt and threw it off the bed. She placed her arms around James' neck and kissed him, his hands traveling up her back to her bra, which he hesitated at before undoing the hook. He leaned Lily back onto the bed, his bare chest heaving against hers.  
He looked into her eyes and asked, "Are you sure?"  
Lily nodded, not taking her eyes off of his. She had sobered up enough to know what she was doing. "Yeah, I'm sure," she said, and then was kissed him and pulled him back down to the bed.

The next morning, Lily woke up to the bright sun streaming into the room through the window. She yawned and pulled the sheets a little higher as she turned over to see James still asleep next to her. His mouth was slightly open and his bare chest rose up and down as she watched him.  
She smiled and kissed him on the cheek before throwing off the sheets and walking over to the bathroom to take a shower.

When Lily walked out of the shower 10 minutes later, James was up. He had put his boxers back on and was searching under the bed for his shirt. He looked up as she entered; James smiled when he saw her.  
"Good morning," he said, standing up and walking over to her.  
"Good morning," she replied, smiling too. "I'm gonna get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast."  
"I'm right behind you; I just want a quick shower first, okay?" James said.  
"K, I'll see you down there then," Lily kissed him and they walked in opposite directions. It was just then Lily realized that all of her other clothes were still in her room. Sighing heavily, she darted out of the room and across the hall to hers, where she opened the door slowly and peeked inside, her hair dripping on the carpet.  
Carmen was lying face down on the bed, one hand hanging off the side as she snored loudly. After a second, Lily saw Sirius, half-dressed and sprawled on the floor next to the bed where Carmen slept. Lily held back a laugh and dashed across the room to grab some clothes. She heard a noise as she reached the door again, but when she looked, Carmen had simply rolled over and fallen back asleep. She smiled and shut the door behind her.

The water was still running when she ducked back into James' room; Lily slid into her bra and underwear and then fastened her most comfortable white jeans and through on a peasant top. She ran the towel over her long hair one more time and stepped out the door just as the sound of running water stopped.  
Downstairs, Lily was greeted by Remus and Liz, as well as a very hung-over and disgruntled-looking Sarah. Eve was sitting next to her, her eyes closed and steaming mug of coffee in front of her on the counter; she didn't open her eyes when Lily sat down.  
"Morning, Lily. Would you like some pancakes?" Remus offered, a funny grin on his face.  
"Yes please," Lily replied, pouring herself some orange juice. She looked around. "Where are Ray and Peter this morning?" she asked as Remus put a plate of pancakes in front of her, along with a fork and knife.  
"Ray went out to get a pack of cigarettes," he stopped to make a disgusted face, " and we don't know where Peter is...haven't seen him all morning. But that's Peter for you."  
Lily nodded and re-capped the syrup bottle. She cut a piece of pancake out and tried it. "Yumm, very nice, Mr. Lupin; I didn't know you could cook."  
"Not really, I can't...a few things, and pancakes are pretty easy. But thanks, I'm glad you like them."

Lily was on her third plate of pancakes when James wandered down the stairs, whistling a tune Lily didn't recognize. She greeted him when he walked in and he kissed her on the cheek.  
"Morning everyone!" he said loudly and cheerily, making Eve wince.  
"Well someone's chipper this morning. Did you have a good night last night?" Remus asked, his eyes traveling to Lily for a fraction of a second before he returned to flipping his pancakes.  
Lily took a long gulp of orange juice. James continued to grin but didn't answer Remus. Instead he leaned over the counter and asked, "Are those pancakes?"  
Remus smiled and passed his a fresh plate and a coffee mug.  
"Thanks mate," James said as they heard the front door slam.  
Everyone looked up to see Peter enter the hallway and start up the stairs.  
"Morning, Peter! Would you like some breakfast?" Lily offered nicely and smiled at him. Peter stopped halfway up the stairs and turned to them.  
"N-no...thank you, uh, Lily," he declined, and began turning back around before adding, "I'm just gonna...still tired.." he motioned up the stairs.  
"Okay," Lily smiled again.  
"Hey Peter, did you see Ray when you were outside?" Remus called to him suddenly. Peter stopped quickly and turned back. He was quiet for a second while they waited for his reply.  
"Uhhh, no..no I never saw Ray this morning. Ok then, goodnight," and he hurried up to the top of the stairs and turned left towards his room.  
"Weird kid..." Lily commented before going back to her breakfast.

hey guys, sorry i haven't added in while i couldn't rmemeber the last chapter that went up! anyway, the fic is done and it has only two more chapters, so get ready for the end! tear

i'll add more very soon!

Jes xo


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18

That afternoon, everyone was sitting in the living room, reading or watching the television, when there was a sharp knocking on the door. James looked up and around the room before standing and walking to the door.  
From her seat in the living room, Lily could hear the voice of their visitor introducing himself.  
''Mr. Potter?" he inquired and then a pause where James said simply, 'yes'. "I'm Officer Jennings, may I step inside and speak to you a moment?" Lily put down her newspaper and stood to join James in the hall. When she got there, the door was closing behind the police officer and she managed a glimpse at the back of his car, parked outside the house and with a very huffy, very familiar-looking face in the back window. Lily turned to James to speak, but he stopped her first.  
"I can deal with this, Lily," he said. "But can you please go get Remus?" he asked, confirming her thought of who it might have been in the back of the cop car.  
She gave him a worried look, "Sure, I'll get him." She turned and went back into the living room, where everyone was sitting up, listening to the conversation. Remus was already standing; he nodded at Lily and then walked from the room.  
"We should probably, uhh, go upstairs. You know, give them some privacy..." Lily said, trailing off. The rest nodded, though some got up grudgingly and as slowly as possible. Lily led the group out of the room and up the stairs, with Peter at the end of the line.  
Lily didn't see him follow the others down the hall as she opened the door to her room.

James sat, stupefied in his seat in the kitchen. Remus was saying things to him, comforting things, but it was just a murmur in the back of his head being drowned out by what the officer had just told him.  
_My Mum is dead..._He thought, staring off into space..._My Mum is dead. She's dead and it's all because of him...she's dead because of HIM! _It was like a looped song going around in his head, getting angrier and louder with every revolution. _MY MUM IS DEAD, AND IT'S BECAUSE OF HIM! _James stood quickly and looked around. Remus was watching him carefully, the police officer was silent, his eyes dead and vacant as he watched James suffer.  
"I'm going for a walk," he announced.  
"Son, you need to calm down for a little while; I need you to come with me to the station and answer some questions for us. Can you do that?" the officer had finally moved from the corner of the room where he had been waiting for James to react to his heartbreaking news.  
James didn't seem to hear what the officer had said. "I'm taking a walk..." he wandered to the stairs, the officer and Remus following behind him. "Lily!" he screamed up the stairs.  
"Mr. Potter, I need to bring you to the station for some questioning," he looked over at Remus. "You can bring your friend if you like."  
James paid him no attention, and simply shouted up the stairs for Lily again.

Upstairs in the other girls' room, Lily lay on Carmen's bed, hugging the pillow to her. She wondered in her head what could have happened for about the millionth time when she heard James calling her name from downstairs. She lifted her head and looked around. The other girls didn't say anything.  
"Lily!" she heard him scream again, and she slid off the bed, letting go of the pillow. "I better go see what's up..." she trailed off as she smoothed her hair. Carmen smiled at her, and she walked from the room.

Downstairs, Lily reached James, who had her shoes for her as she wlaked down to him.  
"What's happening?" she asked him. "What's wrong?" She saw the pained look in Remus' eyes and the slightly annoyed-looking police officer still standing in the hallway.  
He handed Lily her shoes. "We're going for a walk." His voice was firm, but not cruel. She knew he wasn't mad at her, but he needed to get out of the house, because of whatever had happened. She quickly sat down and began to tie up her trainers.  
"Miss, please talk to him. The boy needs to come with me to the station, so we can ask him some routine questions about the murder-" Lily's eyes shot open and stared up at the group standing in the hallway. James pursed his lips and Remus sighed loudly. But Lily knew not to bring it up again; James would tell her if he wanted to. She quickly finished lacing her shoes and stood up.  
Walking over to the policeman, she asked, "Sir, if I could have just a little time with him, I promise we will drive him down in an hour or two for you to talk with him. Would that be ok?" She put on her best pity eyes and watched him carefully.  
After a minute he finally consented to their little bit of time. "Thank you, sir. He'll be just a little bit, I promise," Lily said, smiling slightly.  
"Yeah, yeah, if he's not come down by tea time, I'll be coming here again, missy," he replied grudgingly. Then he put his hat back on and nodded to them, before pushing past and leaving the house. Lily walked to James and took his hand.  
"We'll be just a little while, Remus," she said, and he nodded back at her and watched them leave through the back porch.

Lily and James walked in silence on the footpath that had been created in the woods behind James' house, James occasionally sniffing, but not actually crying. Lily squeezed his hand, but he did not look up at her. When the woods ended, they cut across a small field and Lily saw a black fence appearing in the distance. Just behind, she strained her eyes to see the gravestones that loomed ahead of them. And then she understood: James was taking her to meet his Dad.

sorry for the short chappie..just a wraning, the next chapter is the last...it's ending! ahhh! im def thinking about a sequel tho, so look out for it!

Jes xo


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter 19

Down at the police station, Ray was laying on the hard mattress inside of his cell, while the officer whistled a merry tune, stopping only to take a few sips of his coffee and bite into his doughnut. Finally, the tune stopped and Ray could hear footsteps walk over to his cell door.

"Hey, kid," the officer barked, but not too harshly. Ray didn't say anything, just continued to stare at the metal bars holding up the bunk above him. There was silence for a minute before the officer tried again.

"Kid?" he asked, walking all the way up to the barred door. When Ray remained silent again, he continued to talk. "Look, kid. I was there when we arrested you, and I've been on the force for a long time now. Seen a lot of arrests in my day, and I can usually tell whether we're cuffing a victim or a convict. From what I saw, I'd say you're the former." He stopped for a minute to let his words sink in, and to give Ray a chance to reply. "I know you didn't do it kid, and that's a weighty crime to be sentenced with, so just tell us who did, and we'll let you go. I know that you know who it is, all you have to do, is tell me." He waited by the cell door for another minute, but Ray didn't even moved or rustle. The guard sighed and turned on his heel, walked back to his desk and picked up his tune where he had left off.

Across town, James and Lily were walking through the graveyard. Lily followed James as he expertly dodged in and out, weaving between stones to where his father's grave was. Despite herself, Lily felt a chill rise up her spine and she shivered. James had his back to her as he led the way, and didn't notice. Lily rubbed her arms where goosebumps had appeared and continued walking.

James stopped suddenly and scanned the ground, his eyes finally landing on a humble headstone a few feet away. He walked over and knelt down beside the grave. Lily joined him a second later, but remained standing. He motioned for her to join him on the ground, and Lily faltered for a second before kneeling next to him. James sighed and put one hand on top of the gravestone and put the other around Lily. He closed his eyes and sat there for a minute in silence. Lily felt rather weird as she sat beside him; she had only ever visited her mom's grave, never anyone else's. James opened his eyes and breathed in deeply.

"Hey, Dad." His voice splitting through the air almost made Lily jump. She hadn't expected James to start talking to his dead father. The idea sent another chill down her spine. James looked up as she shivered. "You ok?" he asked, and all the anger she had heard earlier suddenly gone from his voice. His eyes probed hers, and she nodded fervently. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," she replied, trying to look sincere.

James watched her for a minute and then sighed. "Lily, I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I just thought that you might want to come with me, and I know that I needed to not do this visit by myself. I come a lot and talk to him, you know, tell him what's new in my life, but if you want to go, you can."

Lily looked startled. "No, I don't want to go, not at all. It's just, well, it's different for me, is all. I never had the strength to do more than leave flowers at my mum's grave before I got scared and ran away." She paused and looked at the ground. "Does that make me a bad person?" she asked. Lily could feel the tears forming in her eyes and prayed that they wouldn't fall; James didn't need any more problems right now.

James put both his hand around her face and lifted her head up so that she was looking straight at him. "Of course that doesn't make you a bad person. You love your mom, and she knows that. It's just harder for you to do some things, that's all." He stopped and wiped away the tear that had fallen down Lily's pale cheek. "Lily, I wouldn't change my life for the world, because if I did, I might not have you." He looked right into her eyes as he continued. "You are so special to me, Lily." He stopped and took a deep breathe.

"Lily, I love you." The words fell upon Lily like a brick in her stomach. She gasped involuntarily and stared at James. But then, as quickly as the weight had come, it was lifted. Lily felt herself still crying, but also smiling the biggest smile of her life. She laughed and cried and smiled at James, who couldn't tell what was happening.

Se laughed again at the confused expression on his face. Putting her hand on his knee she said, "James, I love you, too." And then she leaned in and kissed him, the tears from her wet cheeks rubbing off onto his skin. She could feel him smiling as he kissed her back, his hands pulling her closer to him. Finally they broke and looked at each other.

"Wow," James whispered.

She looked at him. "What?" she asked.

He didn't reply, he just took her hands in his and turned back to the gravestone. "Dad, there's someone I want you to meet."

Near the end of their break, all of the kids attended Mrs. Potter's funeral. She was buried in the spot next to Mr. Potter's grave. Lily held James' hand all through the ceremony, and stayed with him afterward to say good-bye. The next day, they packed up their stuff and left the somber-looking house, which had been left to James after his mother's death. They took the train back to Hogwarts and began getting on with their lives as normally as they could.

Near the end of the year, when they were all studying hard for their final exams at Hogwarts, Remus received a letter from the ministry saying that his brother, Ray, had been tried for the murder of Mrs. Potter. He had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years to life in Azkaban for his crime. Remus was allowed the chance to see his brother once before he would be sent off to the prison, but did not choose to take them up on this offer. He showed the letter to James, who smiled weakly and thanked him. James had managed not to hold a grudge against Remus, just because it had been his brother who had killed James' mother.

On the last day of school, the group rode back on the Hogwarts Express for the last time together. They laughed and joked with each other, trying to avoid the inevitable sadness that would fall upon them when they were forced to say good-bye and part ways. James and Lily walked through the barrier together, holding hands. They said their good-byes, Lily sobbing uncontrollably as she hugged everyone and promised it wouldn't be the last time they saw each other; James shook hands with the guys, trying to look macho and pulled together, until he had to say good-bye to Remus. He was going to shake his hand like he done with the others, but at the last second, he grabbed his friend and gave him a hug.

"I'll miss you, man," he said, letting go and beaming at his friend.

"I'll miss you, too, James. Give me a call, I have the whole summer off before I start my first year teaching at Hogwarts, you know," Remus replied, smiling broadly.

"I still can't believe it," James said, giving his friend one last pat on the back before he and Lily wheeled their stuff towards the front doors, waving at their friends as they left. When they finally got outside the station, they looked around.

James looked at Lily. "So, where are we going?" he asked her. 

"Well, before we go home, I want to make a pit stop and visit someone," she replied.

"Ok, who are we visiting, your step-dad?" he asked her. Lily shook her head no and smiled.

"We're visiting my mum." She grinned at James and he smiled back. He kissed Lily on the forehead, and then they and their luggage dissapperated with a pop, leaving their empty carts behind to wait for the next set of people to come.


End file.
